Israel’s intelligence agency, Mossad, provided Denmark and Sweden with the information to stop the attempted assassination of the leader of the Danish branch of an Iranian opposition group, an Israeli official confirmed Wednesday.
“The Mossad’s efforts have led to thwarting Iranian terrorism in France, Belgium, Austria, Germany and now Sweden and Denmark,” the Israeli diplomat said.
Ynet reported that United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo congratulated Denmark on arresting “an Iranian regime assassin.” In May, Pompeo made a speech asserting Iran’s elite Quds Force “conducts covert assassination operations in the heart of Europe.”
Because Israeli and Jewish institution are high-risk targets for terrorist attacks, the Mossad gathers a lot of information, including on targets that are not directly linked to the Jewish State, the Israeli diplomat explained.
As a result, the official said, Denmark was able to stop the assassins, who had explosives in their possession and were targeting the branch of an Iranian opposition group, the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahwaz (ASMLA), blamed by Tehran for an attack on a military parade in Khuzestan in which 25 Iranians were killed.
Iran expressed “strong protest” to Danish ambassador to Tehran, Danny Annan, over the allegations. But Denmark has recalled its ambassador from Tehran and is speaking to other European Union countries about how to respond, including sanctions against the Islamic Republic. The incident happened as the EU tries to save the nuclear deal with Iran, from which the U.S. has already withdrawn.
This is the second time in recent months that Iran has been accused of planning a terrorist attack against an exiled Iranian opposition group on European soil. In June, France, Germany, and Belgium foiled a planned attack against a meeting of thousands of Iranian opposition supporters just north of Paris that was also attended by leading U.S. figures. An Iranian diplomat, accredited to Tehran’s mission in Austria, was implicated in the plot.
Following the thwarting of the Paris terror plot, Israeli media reported that the Mossad provided crucial intelligence that led to the arrest of the cell planning the attack.
In November of last year, an advocate for Iranian-Arabs was fatally shot in the Hague.
[Photo: Wochit News / YouTube ]