BERLIN – German federal prosecutors announced Thursday that two men have been formally charged with espionage and attempted murder conspiracy, alleging the pair were directed by an Iranian intelligence agency to collect intelligence on prominent German Jewish and pro-Israel figures ahead of planned deadly attacks.
In accordance with German privacy regulations, the first defendant, a Danish national arrested last June in Danish territory, is only publicly identified as Ali S. His alleged accomplice, an Afghan national named Tawab M., was taken into custody in Denmark this past November. Prosecutors confirmed that the indictment was officially filed with the Hamburg State Court on May 7 this year.
Court documents and official statements outline the full scope of the alleged plot: Ali S. stands accused of operating as a covert agent for the Intelligence Organization of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), maintaining direct and regular contact with the IRGC’s elite Quds Force – the branch of the Iranian military responsible for extraterritorial operations. By early 2025, the defendant received explicit orders to surveil and gather detailed operational information on four high-priority targets.
The named targets include Josef Schuster, president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany – the country’s largest umbrella organization representing Jewish communities – and Volker Beck, a former veteran German lawmaker and current head of the German-Israeli Society. The plot also targeted two unnamed Jewish grocery store owners based in Berlin. German prosecutors emphasized in their official statement that all surveillance activities were explicitly carried out to prepare for upcoming assassination attacks and arson operations on German soil.
Investigators add that Ali S. conducted pre-attack reconnaissance of multiple locations across Berlin throughout 2024, and actively worked to recruit additional co-conspirators to carry out the violent plot. By May 2025, he had established contact with Tawab M., who allegedly agreed to source a firearm for an unnamed third party and coordinate that individual’s attempt to assassinate Beck.
Following Ali S.’s arrest last year, German officials immediately summoned Iran’s ambassador to Berlin to the German Foreign Ministry to address the allegations. At that time, the Iranian Embassy in Berlin issued a formal rejection of the claims, dismissing them as “unfounded and dangerous allegations” of a planned attack against Jewish targets in Germany.