Man accused of gathering information on Jews in Berlin for Iran arrested in Denmark, officials say

The Iranian flag flies in front of the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Berlin, June 22, 2025. (Fabian Sommer/dpa via AP)

BERLIN — A man suspected of gathering information on Jewish locations and individuals in Berlin for Iranian intelligence, possibly with a view to carrying out attacks, has been arrested in Denmark, German prosecutors said Tuesday.

The Danish national, identified only as Ali S. in line with German privacy rules, was arrested on Thursday in the Danish city of Aarhus, federal prosecutors said in a statement.

The man was tasked by an Iranian intelligence service early this year with gathering information on “Jewish localities and specific Jewish individuals” in Berlin, prosecutors said. They didn’t elaborate.

He spied on three properties in June, “presumably in preparation of further intelligence activities in Germany, possibly including terrorist attacks on Jewish targets,” prosecutors said.

German Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig said “if this suspicion is confirmed, we are dealing with an outrageous operation,” adding in a statement that “the protection of Jewish life has the highest priority for the German government.”

German security authorities stepped up protection for Jewish and Israeli facilities after a 12-day war broke out between Israel and Iran in June.

The suspect is accused of working for an intelligence service of a foreign power. The information leading to his arrest came from Germany’s domestic intelligence service, prosecutors said.

He will be brought before a judge in Germany to determine whether he is kept in custody pending formal charges after extradition from Denmark. It was not immediately clear when that will happen.

Germany is a staunch ally of Israel and has a long history of tense relations with Tehran, though it has been one of the three leading European powers trying to engage Iran in diplomacy over its nuclear program.

In October, Germany ordered the closure of all three Iranian Consulates in the country in response to the Iranian judiciary’s announcement of the execution of Iranian German prisoner Jamshid Sharmahd, who lived in the United States and was kidnapped in Dubai in 2020 by Iranian security forces. That left the Islamic Republic with only its embassy in Berlin.

Geir Moulson, The Associated Press