Copenhagen also recalls ambassador to Tehran as it accuses Iran of plotting assassination on Danish soil

Denmark has recalled its ambassador from Tehran and called for fresh EU sanctions against Iran after its security services accused Iranian intelligence service of plotting an assassination on Danish soil.

The Danish intelligence chief, Finn Borch Andersen, said on Tuesday that the alleged murder plot had targeted the exiled leader of the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahvaz (ASMLA), a separatist group that has a history of carrying out attacks in Iran.

“We are dealing with an Iranian intelligence agency planning an attack on Danish soil. Obviously, we can’t and won’t accept that,” Andersen said.

Danish bridges closed due to 'major police operation' Read more

A Norwegian national of Iranian background has been arrested in Sweden and since extradited to Denmark in connection with the foiled attack, according to officials.

The announcement came as Tehran scrambled to muster European support before the US re-imposes stringent sanctions on the country early next month. The European Union, Iran, China and Russia have set out a plan to sidestep those unilateral US sanctions.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman, Bahram Qassemi, dismissed the allegation and said that the timing of the accusations was suspicious. “This is a continuation of enemies’ plots to damage Iranian relations with Europe at this critical time,” he said, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.

Andersen revealed on Tuesday that a massive police operation that cut off Copenhagen from the rest of Denmark for several hours last month was triggered when police noticed a stolen, Swedish-registered car near the home of an Iranian opposition activist.

Fearing that an attack was imminent, Danish authorities closed the Øresund bridge linking Denmark and Sweden and the Great Belt bridge between the islands of Zealand and Funen. Hundreds of Danish police and soldiers used cars, sniffer dogs and helicopters to hunt for the rental car.

The incident came shortly after Tehran summoned UK, Dutch and Danish envoys and urged Denmark and the Netherlands to extradite Iranian exiles who they said were responsible for a terrorist attack on September 23 in the Iranian city of Ahvaz, which killed at least 24 people, including children. The ASMLA initially took responsibility for the attack, but later withdrew its claim.

The Danish foreign minister, Anders Samuelsen, said the foiled attack was “completely unacceptable” and that his government “will respond to Iran and is speaking with European partners on further measures”.

France has also recently accused Iran of plotting attacks on European soil. In October, French diplomatic sources said that they had concluded that Iran’s ministry of intelligence was behind a foiled bombing attack that targeted a rally organised by an Iranian opposition group near Paris in June.

An Iranian diplomat was among six people who were arrested for allegedly plotting the bombing of the event, which featured among its guests senior US politicians including Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump’s attorney.

Tehran denied the allegations, which it called a conspiracy to “sabotage Iran’s ancient and longstanding relations with France and other significant European countries”.

Mike Pompeo claims Iran carrying out 'assassination operations' in Europe Read more

In May, the US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, claimed that Iran’s Revolutionary Guard was carrying out “assassination operations in the heart of Europe”, an allegation that at the time bewildered security experts, given that there had been no recent killings in Europe officially attributed to the Iranian state. Since then, France and now Denmark have directly blamed Tehran.

The most recent killing of an Iranian dissident took place in The Hague in November last year, when a gunman shot Ahmad Mola Nissi, who was also a former leader of a group closely linked to the ASMLA, which had claimed responsibility for several attacks in Iran.

Relations with Europe are vital to Iran’s bid to weather out US-imposed sanctions. Unlike the US, which has withdrawn from the 2015 nuclear deal, the EU has remained adamant that it wants to preserve the deal. Trump’s first set of sanctions – hitting the country’s access to dollars, gold and precious metals – were reimposed in August.

They are to be followed by a set of even more stringent measures by 4 November, including an embargo on the imports of Iranian oil and sanctions on its banking sector.</s>Copenhagen, Oct 31: The government of Denmark has called back its ambassador to Iran and accused the West Asian nation of plotting an assassination mission on its soil. According to Danish officials, Copenhagen will look to impose more economic and diplomatic sanctions on Tehran, in coordination with the European Union, intelNews.org said.

The charges against Iran, which has of late faced a high level of hostility from the US over its nuclear programme, surfaced during an emergency news conference in Copenhagen on Tuesday, October 30. The conference was led by Anders Samuelsen, Denmark's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Finn Borch Andersen, director of PET, the Danish security and intelligence service.

Also Read | Ferry with nearly 300 people onboard stranded in Baltic Sea

As per the intelNews report, the duo said "an Iranian intelligence agency" had planned "an attack on Danish soil". While Samuelsen said it was "completely unacceptable", Anderson said a Norwegian national of Iranian background was arrested in Sweden on October 21 and was awaiting extradition to Denmark. The arrested man is an employee of Iranian intelligence, the PET director added. He was accused of carrying out surveillance against a member of an Iranian separatist group based in Denmark, Anderson added.

The member belongs to the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahvaz, a separatist group which campaigns for a separate land for Iran's Arab minority. The body is known to be the militant wing of Iran's separatist Arab community (constitutes two per cent of the population) and has staged terror attacks inside Iran in the past.

Iran strongly denied the Danish accusations and its foreign ministry called them "spiteful", according to the report.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Bahram Qassemi suspected the timing of reports linking Iran to assassination operations in Europe soil and called them as "a plot by [Iran's] enemies to damage Tehran's growing relations with European countries".

Also Read | Denmark: 2 held for attempting procurement of drones for IS

Iran has focused on improving relations with the European countries after the US and Israel have strongly targeted it.

Earlier in October, France seized the financial assets of individuals who it called Iranian spies and it came in the wake of arrest of six people in France, Germany and Belgium for allegedly planning to attack the annual conference of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, a militant group which Iran calls as a terror outfit, in June.</s>COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A police operation last month that briefly cut off Copenhagen from the rest of Denmark stemmed from an alleged Iranian plot to kill an opposition activist, the head of Denmark’s intelligence agency said Tuesday while announcing a suspect’s arrest.

A Norwegian citizen of Iranian descent was arrested Oct. 21 on suspicion of helping an unspecified Iranian intelligence service “to act in Denmark” and of alleged involvement in the assassination plot, Danish security service chief Finn Borch Andersen said.

The suspect has denied wrongdoing and is being held in pre-trial custody until Nov. 8, Borch Andersen said. He did not name the Norwegian.

The Iranian government did not respond to the Danish allegations Tuesday.

The intelligence chief said Denmark is working on the case “with a series of partners” in Europe, but stopped short of saying who they are. Intelligence agencies in Sweden and Norway cooperated with the arrest, he said.

The suspect was seen taking photos of the residences of members of the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahwaz (ASMLA) in Ringsted, a town nearly 60 kilometers (37 miles) southwest of Copenhagen, Borch Andersen said.

Tehran has blamed the group for a terror attack on a military parade in the Iranian city of Ahvaz on Sept. 22 that left at least 25 people dead. ASMLA condemned the violence and said it was not involved.

The Iranian government summoned Denmark’s ambassador after the attack and accused the Danish government of harboring members of the “terrorist group.”

The Sept. 28 operation that closed access to the island on which Copenhagen was launched after police noticed a stolen, Swedish-registered car near the home of an Iranian opposition activist that sped up when officers were spotted.

Fearing an attack was imminent, the Danish security service, known by its acronym PET, to organize a manhunt, and the borders with Germany and Sweden were closed, Borch Andersen said.

Investigators determined later the car had no connection to the PET probe, which produced other evidence of illegal activity taking place in Denmark involving Iran and the opposition, he said.

Danish Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen on Tuesday called it “totally unacceptable” that Iran was planning an attack in Denmark. The country will respond and speak with European partners about “further steps,” he said on Twitter, without elaborating.

Samuelsen later said Iran’s ambassador to Denmark, Morteza Moradian, had been summoned to the Foreign Ministry in Copenhagen and it was made “crystal clear” to him that “the gravity of the matter is difficult to describe.”

During a televised press conference, Borch Andersen noted that Iran already was suspected of targeting opposition groups abroad. He cited a foiled bombing attack that targeted a June rally organized by an Iranian opposition group near Paris.</s>COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Denmark said on Tuesday it suspected an Iranian government intelligence service had tried to carry out a plot to assassinate an Iranian Arab opposition figure on its soil.

The alleged plot, which Denmark's foreign minister said he believed the Iranian government was behind, prompted the Nordic country to call for fresh European Union-wide sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

A Norwegian citizen of Iranian background was arrested in Sweden on Oct. 21 in connection with the plot and extradited to neighboring Denmark, Swedish security police said.

The Norwegian has denied the charges and the Iranian government also denied any connection with the alleged plot.

The attack was meant to target the leader of the Danish branch of the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahvaz (ASMLA), Danish intelligence chief Finn Borch Andersen said.

ASMLA seeks a separate state for ethnic Arabs in Iran's oil-producing southwestern province of Khuzestan. Arabs are a minority in Iran, and some see themselves as under Persian occupation and want independence or autonomy.

"We are dealing with an Iranian intelligence agency planning an attack on Danish soil. Obviously, we can't and won't accept that," Andersen told a news conference.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi dismissed the accusations. "This is a continuation of enemies' plots to damage Iranian relations with Europe at this critical time," Tasnim news agency quoted him as saying.

The EU is trying to save big powers' 2015 deal with Iran that curbed its nuclear activity in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions after the United States withdrew from the pact and reimposed far-flung financial penalties on Tehran.

Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen called the planned attack "totally unacceptable" and said British Prime Minister Theresa May had voiced her support for Denmark during a meeting in Olso.

Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen told a press conference he believed the Iranian government was behind the attempted attack.

"In light of the latest development, Denmark will now push for a discussion in the EU on the need for further sanctions against Iran," Samuelsen said. Denmark's ambassador in Tehran had been recalled for consultations, Samuelsen added.

"We congratulate the government of Denmark on its arrest of an Iranian regime assassin," U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a tweet. "We call on our allies and partners to confront the full range of Iran's threats to peace and security."

Andersen said the arrested Norwegian citizen had denied charges in court of helping a foreign intelligence service plot an assassination in Denmark.

On Sept. 28, Danish police shut two major bridges to traffic and halted ferry services from Denmark to Sweden and Germany in a nationwide police operation to prevent a possible attack.

A few days earlier, the Norwegian suspect had been observed photographing and watching the Danish home of the ASMLA leader, police said.

In November 2017, Ahmad Mola Nissi, an Iranian exile who established ASMLA, was shot dead in the Netherlands. The Danish security service then bolstered police protection of the ASMLA leader in Denmark and two associates.

Last month, Iran summoned the envoys of the Netherlands, Denmark and Britain over a Sept. 22 shooting attack on a military parade in Khuzestan in which 25 people were killed.

Iran accused the three countries of harboring Iranian opposition groups.

Another Arab opposition group, the Ahwaz National Resistance, and the Islamic State militant group both claimed responsibility for the parade attack, though neither has provided conclusive evidence to back up their claim.

Last week, diplomatic and security sources said France had expelled an Iranian diplomat over a failed plot to carry out a bomb attack on a rally in the Paris area by an exiled Iranian opposition group.</s>COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Denmark will push for fresh EU-wide sanctions against Iran following a suspected attempted attack by an Iranian intelligence service on Danish soil, Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen said on Tuesday.

Samuelsen also told a news conference he believed the Iranian government was behind the attempted attack and said he would recall the Danish ambassador in Tehran for consultations.

Earlier, Copenhagen said it suspected an Iranian intelligence service of plotting to assassinate the leader of the Danish branch of an ethnic Arab separatist movement in Iran.</s>Denmark on Tuesday recalled its ambassador to Iran after it accused Tehran of plotting a foiled ‘attack’ against three Iranians living in the Scandinavian country.

“I have decided to recall Denmark’s ambassador in Tehran for consultations… Denmark can in no way accept that people with ties to Iran’s intelligence service plot attacks against people in Denmark,” Danish Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen told reporters.

The planned operation was “totally unacceptable”, he said, adding he was consulting with “partners and allies”, including the EU, about possible sanctions.

Earlier Tuesday, the head of Denmark’s intelligence service PET, Finn Borch Andersen, said his agency believed the Iranian intelligence service “was planning an attack in Denmark” against three Iranians suspected of belonging to the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahvaz.

A Norwegian of Iranian origin was arrested on October 21 and placed in custody, suspected of planning the attack and spying for Iran.

The suspect was detained in Sweden, according to the Swedish security service Sapo.

Iran has denied the Danish allegations, with foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi saying they were part of a European conspiracy against Iran.

In late September, Tehran accused Denmark, the Netherlands and Britain of “hosting several members of the terrorist group” that Iran accuses of being responsible for an attack in the mainly ethnic Arab city of Ahvaz in southwestern Iran.

The September 22 attack, in which five commandos opened fire on a military parade, left 24 people dead.

The so-called Islamic State group and a separatist Arab group claimed responsibility.

“It is totally unacceptable that Iran or any other foreign state plans assassinations on Danish soil,” Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen wrote on Twitter.

“Further actions against Iran will be discussed in the EU.”

In Oslo, where he was participating in a meeting of Northern European leaders, Rasmussen met with British counterpart Theresa May, whom he said expressed “support” for Denmark in the matter.

“In close collaboration with UK and other countries we will stand up to Iran,” he added.

“We congratulate the government of Denmark on its arrest of an Iranian regime assassin. For nearly 40 years, Europe has been the target of Iran-sponsored terrorist attacks. We call on our allies and partners to confront the full range of Iran’s threats to peace and security,” he wrote on Twitter.

Iran’s ambassador to Copenhagen was summoned to the foreign ministry for an explanation on Tuesday.

PET’s announcement ended weeks of media speculation about why Denmark shut down bridges to Sweden and ferries for several hours on September 28 in a massive manhunt that mobilised hundreds of police and the military.

The shutdown was aimed at foiling the Iranian operation, PET acknowledged on Tuesday.</s>COPENHAGEN - Denmark said on Tuesday it suspected an Iranian intelligence service had tried to carry out a plot to assassinate an Iranian Arab opposition figure on its soil.

A Norwegian citizen of Iranian background was arrested in Sweden on 21 October in connection with the plot and extradited to Denmark, Swedish security police said.

The Norwegian has denied the charges and Tehran also rejected the allegations on Tuesday.

The attack was meant to target the leader of the Danish branch of the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahvaz (ASMLA), Danish intelligence chief Finn Borch Andersen said.

ASMLA seeks a separate state for ethnic Arabs in Iran’s oil-producing southwestern province of Khuzestan.

“We are dealing with an Iranian intelligence agency planning an attack on Danish soil. Obviously, we can’t and won’t accept that,” Andersen told a news conference.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi dismissed the accusations. “This is a continuation of enemies’ plots to damage Iranian relations with Europe at this critical time,” Tasnim news agency quoted him as saying.

European countries are trying to save a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers after President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the pact and announced the reimposition of sanctions on Tehran.

Andersen said the arrested Norwegian citizen had denied charges in court of helping a foreign intelligence service plot an assassination in Denmark.

Arabs are a minority in Iran, and some see themselves as under Persian occupation and want independence or autonomy.

Danish Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen said on Twitter that the reported attack plot was “completely unacceptable”.

“The government will respond to Iran and is speaking with European partners on further measures,” Samuelsen said.

On 28 September, Danish police shut two major bridges to traffic and halted ferry services from Denmark to Sweden and Germany in a nationwide police operation to prevent a possible attack.

A few days earlier, the Norwegian suspect had been observed photographing and watching the Danish home of the ASMLA leader, police said.

In November 2017, Ahmad Mola Nissi, an Iranian exile who established ASMLA, was shot dead in the Netherlands. The Danish security service then bolstered police protection of the ASMLA leader in Denmark and two associates.

Last month, Iran summoned the envoys of the Netherlands, Denmark, and Britain over a 22 September shooting attack on a military parade in Khuzestan in which 25 people were killed.

Iran accused the three countries of harboring Iranian opposition groups.

Another Arab opposition group, the Ahwaz National Resistance, and the Islamic State militant group both claimed responsibility for the parade attack, though neither has provided conclusive evidence to back up their claim.

Last week, diplomatic and security sources said France had expelled an Iranian diplomat over a failed plot to carry out a bomb attack on a rally in the Paris area by an exiled Iranian opposition group.</s>Baku. 31 October. REPORT.AZ/ Ambassador of Denmark in Tehran was summoned to the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Ministry's spokesman Bahram Kasemi said.

Report informs citing RIA Novosti that Danish Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen earlier said Denmark recalls its Ambassador from Tehran over reports on illegal activities of the Iranian intelligence services in the country.</s>Denmark has recalled its ambassador to Iran after it accused Tehran of plotting a foiled "attack" against three Iranians living in the Scandinavian country.

"I have decided to recall Denmark's ambassador in Tehran for consultations...Denmark can in no way accept that people with ties to Iran's intelligence service plot attacks against people in Denmark," Danish Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen told reporters.

The alleged plot was "totally unacceptable", he said, adding that he was consulting with "partners and allies", including the EU, about possible sanctions.

Earlier on Tuesday, the head of Denmark's intelligence service PET, Finn Borch Andersen, said his agency believed the Iranian intelligence service "was planning an attack in Denmark" against three Iranians suspected of belonging to the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahvaz.

A Norwegian of Iranian origin was arrested on October 21 and placed in custody, suspected of planning the attack and spying for Iran.

The suspect was detained in Sweden, according to the Swedish security service Sapo.

Iran has denied the Danish allegations, saying they were part of a European conspiracy against Iran.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Bahram Ghasemi said the allegations were a "plot" against "growing Iran-Europe relations", Iran's Mehr News quoted him as saying.

In late September, Tehran accused Denmark, the Netherlands and Britain of "hosting several members of the terrorist group" that Iran accuses of being responsible for an attack in the mainly ethnic Arab city of Ahvaz in southwestern Iran.

The September 22 attack in Ahvaz, in which five armed men opened fire on a military parade, left 24 people, many of them civilians, dead.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) armed group and a separatist Arab group claimed responsibility.

'Will stand up to Iran'

"It is totally unacceptable that Iran or any other foreign state plans assassinations on Danish soil," Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen wrote on Twitter.

"Further actions against Iran will be discussed in the EU."

In Oslo, where he was participating in a meeting of Northern European leaders, Rasmussen met with British counterpart Theresa May, whom he said expressed "support" for Denmark in the matter.

"In close collaboration with UK and other countries we will stand up to Iran," he added.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the US stood behind Denmark.

"We congratulate the government of Denmark on its arrest of an Iranian regime assassin. For nearly 40 years, Europe has been the target of Iran-sponsored terrorist attacks. We call on our allies and partners to confront the full range of Iran's threats to peace and security," he wrote on Twitter.

Iran's ambassador to Copenhagen was summoned to the foreign ministry for an explanation on Tuesday.

PET's announcement ended weeks of media speculation about why Denmark shut down bridges to Sweden and ferries for several hours on September 28 in a massive manhunt that mobilised hundreds of police and the military.

The shutdown was aimed at foiling the Iranian operation, PET acknowledged on Tuesday.

In October, France accused Iran's intelligence ministry of plotting to bomb a rally held by the exiled opposition group, People's Mujahideen of Iran (MEK), near Paris.

The MEK was previously designated as a "terrorist organisation" by the US, but was taken off the list in 2012.</s>TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran on Wednesday summoned the Danish ambassador to Tehran over Copenhagen's allegations about an Iranian plot to kill an opposition activist in Denmark, the official IRNA news agency reported.

Iran expressed a "strong protest" to Ambassador Danny Annan over what it described as the Danish officials' "hasty, political" and "uncalculated actions" in the case.

The development came after Denmark's intelligence agency said on Tuesday that a police operation last month that briefly cut off Copenhagen from the rest of Denmark stemmed from an alleged Iranian plot to kill an opposition activist. It said a suspect in the case, a Norwegian citizen of Iranian descent, has denied wrongdoing and is being held in pre-trial custody until Nov. 8.

Iran's Foreign Ministry strongly denied the plot allegation, calling it part of enemy plans aimed at damaging Iran-EU relations.

Danes say intelligence shows Iran was planning to kill a member of the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahwaz, or ASMLA, a group that Tehran has blamed for the Sept. 22 terror attack on a military parade in the Iranian city of Ahvaz that killed at least 25 people. ASMLA condemned the violence and said it was not involved.

Denmark condemned Iran for the alleged plot and recalled Annan, the ambassador to Tehran, for consultations. Annan left Iran on Wednesday, shortly after being summoned to the Iranian Foreign Ministry.

"We are looking at the situation in Denmark as being very serious and not least because there is a Norwegian of Iranian descent involved," Norway's Prime Minister Erna Solberg said.

Her government had not yet decided what it would do pending a Norwegian police probe, she added.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, speaking in an interview with Fox News Radio on Wednesday, said Iran is the leading actor conducting assassination attempts in Europe.

"That kind of behavior needs to stop, and we have offered our support and effort to help the Europeans in preventing these kinds of assassination attempts from taking place," he said.

Associated Press writers Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.
Denmark calls on the European Union for new sanctions against Iran after Danish security services accused the Iranian intelligence service of plotting an assassination of an Iranian activist on Danish soil. Copenhagen also recalls its ambassador to Tehran.