BREAKING: Israel's Mossad foils Iranian assassination plot in Denmark

Israel's Mossad foils Iranian assassination plot in Denmark

- Provided intel that helped Danish government foil assassination plot

     Published Wednesday, October 31, 2018 | 21:42 CET

Security agents at crime scene

Israeli intelligence services aided Denmark in foiling a recent assassination attempt by Iranian agents, Israeli media outlets reported Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Denmark announced that it had recalled its ambassador to Iran, after it accused Tehran of plotting to assassinate three Iranian nationals residing in Denmark, AFP reported.

"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 was quoted as having told reporters.

"It is the Iranian government, it is the Iranian state that is behind" the plot, Samuelsen added.

A day later, Israeli media outlets reported that Israel’s Mossad agency had played a key role in foiling the Iranian assassination plot, a senior Israeli official said.

Danish police arrived at the scene

The official claimed that the Mossad provided Danish security services with information which led to the arrest of a member of the suspected Iranian terror cell operating in Scandinavia.

Prior to Samuelsen’s announcement 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 for allegedly planning the attack and spying for Iran, according to the report.

The suspect was detained in the southwestern Swedish city of Goteborg. Swedish authorities later extradited the suspect to Denmark.

The Iranian government denied Denmark’s claims, and in September accused Denmark, the Netherlands, and the UK of hosting “several members of the terrorist group" that Iran holds responsible for an attack in the mainly ethnic Arab city of Ahvaz in southwestern Iran.

The attack, which targeted an Iranian army parade, killed 24 people.