German federal prosecutors announced on Tuesday the arrest of a Danish citizen suspected of surveilling Jewish sites and individuals in Berlin on behalf of Iran.
The suspect, identified only as Ali S., was detained last Thursday in Aarhus, Denmark, by agents of the Danish Security and Intelligence Service (PET) at the request of German authorities.
The arrest followed an investigation by the German Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office and was executed under an arrest warrant issued by the Federal Court of Justice on June 24.
According to the German prosecutor’s statement, Ali S. is strongly suspected of having worked for an Iranian intelligence service. In early 2025, he allegedly received orders to collect information on “Jewish localities and specific Jewish individuals” in Berlin. Prosecutors say that in June, he spied on three properties, “presumably in preparation for further intelligence activities in Germany, possibly including terrorist attacks on Jewish targets.”
The investigation was triggered by intelligence provided by Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, with the Federal Criminal Police mandated to conduct the ongoing probe. After his extradition from Denmark, Ali S. will be brought before an investigating judge at Germany’s Federal Court of Justice to determine whether he will remain in custody pending formal charges.
While the prosecutor’s office did not specify the exact sites targeted, German media reports indicate that the suspect’s activities may have included photographing Jewish community buildings and organizations, such as the German-Israeli Society. Some reports suggest the operation may have been directed by the Quds Force, the international arm of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which is designated as a terrorist entity by the United States.
