Following the arrest of a Danish citizen suspected of espionage for Iran, CDU security policy expert Roderich Kiesewetter has expressed concerns about the possibility of further undetected cases.
In an interview with Handelsblatt, Kiesewetter stated, “Unfortunately, I am certain that Iran’s agents have already scouted potential targets in Europe”. He added that the “terror regime of the Mullahs” utilizes terror both domestically and abroad to stabilize its own system. The parliamentarian noted that Iranian actions primarily target entities and individuals linked to Israel and the United States, but also focus on Iranian exiles.
German intelligence agencies believe Tehran maintains a network of potentially thousands of agents and collaborators abroad, including within Germany. Kiesewetter concurs with this assessment, adding that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has “its own people and networks within right-wing extremist, left-wing extremist and Islamist circles”. He also emphasized the importance of considering the mobilization potential via social media platforms like TikTok. “It is all the more important to finally list the Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organization in order to restrict the operational possibilities of the services and authorities” Kiesewetter argued.
Intelligence Controller Konstantin von Notz (Greens) urged maintaining a heightened state of alert. He emphasized that the recent events demonstrate that “serious threats to our democracy, its institutions and to people living in Germany do not only come from Russia, but also from other authoritarian states, including Iran” he told the newspaper.
