Iran envoy summoned by German Foreign Office over synagogue arson

Iran's chargé d'affaires was summoned by the German Foreign Office on Tuesday after the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court sentenced a German-Iranian man to two years and nine months in prison for attempting to torch a synagogue on the direction of an Iranian state agency.

According to the court ruling, the man planned an arson attack against a synagogue in Bochum in western Germany in November 2022 on the direction of another individual in Iran, who the court determined was part of an Iranian state agency. He also asked an acquaintance to join him in the attack, but the acquaintance refused and later went to the police and told them about the man's plans.

The man ended up backing out after arriving to the area and instead threw a Molotov cocktail at the Hildegardis School in Bochum, located next to the synagogue, in order to trick his operator in Iran into thinking that he had carried out the attack.

Before the attack, the Iranian operator told the German-Iranian man: "Brother, if you don't want to [do this], let me know so that I don't get embarrassed here," according to Der Spiegel.

The court took into account that the attempted attack was state-backed and that the antisemitic sentiments of the defendant when deciding on the prison sentence imposed. The court also considered the danger associated with the use of a Molotov cocktail and the fact that the crime was "likely to cause fear and uncertainty among Jews living in Germany due to its close proximity to the original target of the crime, the synagogue."

'We will not tolerate any foreign-controlled violence in Germany'

"It is intolerable that Jewish life should be attacked here," said the German Foreign Office. "We will not tolerate any foreign-controlled violence in Germany. The precise reasons for the ruling are now important for consequences and next steps, including at the level of the European Union."

The European Jewish Congress shared the news of the sentencing of the German-Iranian man, writing on X, "To safeguard its Jewish population, the EU must designate the IRGC as a terrorist organization."

A German-Iranian man has been found guilty by a court in Düsseldorf for firebombing a synagogue, linking the attack to Iranian authorities.To safeguard its Jewish population, the EU must designate the IRGC as a terrorist organization. https://t.co/YpJZVRJRq9

— European Jewish Congress (@eurojewcong) December 19, 2023

This isn't the first time that Germany has said that Iran was responsible for antisemitic attacks in the country.

Last year, German state security sources accused Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of contracting attacks against synagogues in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and spying on the president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany.