Report: Mossad Foiled Iranian Assassination Plot in Denmark

The Mossad 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.

“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.

The alleged plot prompted the Nordic country to call for fresh EU-wide sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

A Norwegian citizen of Iranian background was arrested in Sweden on Oct. 21 in connection with the plot and extradited to neighboring Denmark, Swedish security police said.

The Norwegian has denied the charges and the Iranian government also denied any connection with the alleged plot.

The attack was meant to target the leader of the Danish branch of the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahvaz (ASMLA), Danish intelligence chief Finn Borch Andersen said.

ASMLA seeks a separate state for ethnic Arabs in Iran’s oil-producing southwestern province of Khuzestan. Arabs are a minority in Iran, and some see themselves as under Persian occupation and want independence or autonomy.

“We are dealing with an Iranian intelligence agency planning an attack on Danish soil. Obviously, we can’t and won’t accept that,” Andersen told a news conference.

A day later, Israeli media outlets reported that the Mossad agency had played a key role in foiling the Iranian assassination plot.