Denmark has recalled its ambassador from Iran and called for fresh EU sanctions against Tehran after its security services accused Iranian intelligence service of plotting an assassination on Danish soil.
The Danish intelligence chief, Finn Borch Andersen, said yesterday that the alleged murder plot had targeted the exiled leader of the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahvaz (ASMLA), a separatist group that has a history of carrying out attacks in Iran.
"We are dealing with an Iranian intelligence agency planning an attack on Danish soil. Obviously, we can’t and won’t accept that," the Guardian cited Andersen as saying.
A Norwegian national of Iranian background has been arrested in Sweden and since extradited to Denmark in connection with the foiled attack, according to officials.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi dismissed the allegation and said that the timing of the accusations was suspicious. "This is a continuation of enemies’ plots to damage Iranian relations with Europe at this critical time," Tasnim cited him as saying.
