Two people imprisoned in Germany on charges of staging “terrorist activities arranged by Iran”

Today, Thursday (October 15, 2026), a German court in Hamburg sentenced two men to prison after convicting them of planning attacks against pro-Israel public figures and spying on Jewish targets in Germany, in a case that the court said was linked to Iranian directives.

The court sentenced Danish citizen Ali S. He was imprisoned for eight and a half years on charges of planning an assassination and deliberately starting a fire, while his Afghan partner, Tawab M., was imprisoned. Four and a half years for his role in the scheme.

The court said in a statement that it was convinced that the Iranian intelligence service recruited Ali S. He was charged with carrying out “state-sponsored terrorist activities” inside Germany, while Judge Petra Wende-Schpworth described the actions as “terrorist activities arranged by Iran,” stressing that the main accused was preparing a politically motivated murder.

According to the court and the public prosecution, Ali S. received In early 2025, he was ordered to collect information about the head of the Central Council of German Jews, Joseph Schuster, and the head of the German-Israeli Association, Volker Beck. He was also tasked with spying on Jewish targets in Berlin, including a Jewish grocery store.

Recruitment to carry out “terrorist activities”

The court found that the main defendant was recruited to carry out “state-sponsored terrorist activities,” while the authorities said that the plan included collecting intelligence information about Jewish figures and institutions in preparation for attacks that could have been bloody.

Reuters reported that he was also instructed to monitor two Jewish grocery store owners in the capital. The prosecution said that Tawab M. He agreed to help recruit a third person and provide him with a weapon to carry out an attack against Volker Beck.

The two men were arrested in Denmark last year before being extradited to Germany, while federal prosecutors brought criminal charges against them last May.

Following the ruling, Volker Beck said that the trial clearly showed "how Iran exports its terrorism to Germany," reiterating his call for the expulsion of the Iranian ambassador. He added that the ruling represents "a wake-up call for German security policy."

In July 2025, the German Foreign Ministry summoned the Iranian ambassador after the arrest of Ali S. In Denmark.

For its part, the Iranian embassy in Berlin, when charges were brought against the two men last month, rejected what it described as “unfounded allegations” made at the request of Iran’s enemies, while it did not respond to a new request for comment following the issuance of the ruling, according to Reuters.