Germany summons Iranian envoy after court convicts spies in plots against Jewish leaders

Germany summoned Iran's ambassador after a Hamburg court convicted two men of spying for Tehran and plotting attacks on Josef Schuster, head of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, and Volker Beck, president of the German-Israeli Society. The court sentenced defendant S. to 8.5 years and defendant M. to 4.5 years for plotting assassinations and an arson attack. Beck called for the ambassador to be declared persona non grata, while Schuster praised the verdict as the tip of the iceberg.

Germany's foreign ministry summoned Iran's ambassador after a German court convicted two men of spying for Tehran and plotting attacks on a leader of the country's Jewish community and a prominent non-Jewish supporter of Israel. Volker Beck, president of the interfaith German-Israeli Society and one of the spies' targets, said a slap on the wrist is not enough and called for the ambassador and most embassy personnel to be declared persona non grata. Hamburg's Higher Regional Court sentenced defendant S., 54, to eight and a half years in prison and defendant M., 43, to four and a half years for plotting assassinations and an arson attack. The court found that the two men, living in Denmark, had in early 2025 carried out orders from Iranian intelligence to spy on Josef Schuster, head of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, and Beck, with the aim of planning an assassination. S. was also convicted of surveilling a Jewish grocery store in Berlin. Schuster praised the verdict but called it the tip of the iceberg. Germany's federal security agency testified it got wind of the plot in 2024. Iran responded by summoning Germany's ambassador to complain about accusations it considers baseless.