Former Iranian Ambassador to Germany: Europeans Have Presented Documents That We Cannot Easily Refute

Ali Majedi, former Iranian ambassador to Germany, spoke to ISNA news agency on Wednesday, February 3, regarding the accusations of "terrorism and espionage" that some European countries have directed at the Islamic Republic, stating: "The Europeans have presented documents regarding the claims they have made that we cannot easily refute." The ISNA reporter's question was: "Currently, apart from the JCPOA, we are facing other challenges with Europe, as we see Denmark, the Netherlands, and Albania expelling Iranian diplomats on the grounds that Iran intended to carry out terrorist actions in these countries." The reporter added: "On the other hand, we are witnessing the arrest of an Iranian diplomat in Germany. Regardless of whether the claims made by Europe about Iran are true or not, some in the country say that the Europeans, by creating these challenges and claims, want to escape forward in such a way that Iran cannot demand anything from them regarding the SPV issue." Ali Majedi, who handed over the responsibility of the Iranian embassy in Germany to the chargé d'affaires of Tehran in that country about two months ago due to the enforcement of the law prohibiting the employment of retirees, responded: "I do not believe in these analyses." He added: "The Europeans have presented documents regarding the claims they have made that we cannot easily refute, although they also cannot easily prove these documents. We see that when Mr. Rouhani travels to Austria, issues arise in Germany. There were also other issues before that. They are faced with a duality in Iran's policy." Mr. Majedi continued his explanations by referring to the Europeans, stating: "They have evidence for their claims that they can rely on, and this is where I say these actions create problems for this sense of trust and security. International relations are not based on emotions but on reality, and even a small mistake can destroy this sense of security." This former ambassador continued: "We are facing issues such as arbitrary operations within the country; can we deny that similar incidents do not occur outside the country? Operations that undermine trust." This is the first time an Iranian official has spoken of the existence of documents regarding the accusations of European countries against the Islamic Republic and considers "rogue elements" involved in these matters. Last July, while Hassan Rouhani was traveling to Switzerland and Austria in an effort to save the JCPOA, it was reported that an Iranian diplomat residing in Vienna was arrested in Germany (a country outside his place of service) for assisting a couple who intended to bomb a National Council of Resistance conference in Paris. Recently, the arrest of a person named "Abdulhamid," a translator and cultural advisor working in the German army on suspicion of espionage for Iran, has made headlines. The Iranian Foreign Ministry has denied these accusations, stating that the arrested individual has no connection to Iran. Meanwhile, the Albanian Foreign Ministry has stated that it expelled two Iranian diplomats for being involved in illegal activities that endangered Albania's security. The presence of some separatist groups consisting of Arab Iranians in the Netherlands and Denmark has also caused tensions in Iran's relations with these two countries for years, but in recent weeks, the dimensions and scope of these tensions have increased. On November 8, Denmark accused Iran's Ministry of Intelligence of attempting to assassinate members of the "Ahvaz Movement" on Danish soil. Subsequently, on January 18, the Danish Foreign Minister announced that the European Union had agreed to impose sanctions against one of Iran's intelligence agencies due to "planning an assassination on European soil." Denmark's security service claims that a Norwegian citizen of Iranian descent, who is a member of the "Ahvaz Liberation Movement" in Ringsted, 60 kilometers southwest of Copenhagen, was taking photos and that police actions against him even led to the temporary closure of the country's borders with Germany and Sweden, and he is a collaborator of Iran's Ministry of Intelligence. Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran's Foreign Minister, stated on November 9 regarding the accusations made by Denmark about the involvement of Iran's Ministry of Intelligence in a plot to assassinate an opponent of the Islamic Republic that the emergence of this issue is a conspiracy by the Israeli intelligence agency, Mossad. The Netherlands also accused the Islamic Republic on January 18 of being involved in planning two assassinations on its soil, one of which relates to the murder of an Iranian citizen named Ahmad Mola Abunahad, known as Ahmad Nissi, one of the founders of the "Ahvaz Liberation Movement," who was killed on November 8 last year in front of his residence in The Hague. In response to these accusations and the announcement of new sanctions, Iran announced a "review of its intelligence and security cooperation" with EU member countries and "reciprocal actions" against Europe. Ali Majedi, former Iranian ambassador to Germany, stated on Wednesday in another part of his remarks: "We have always shown that when we are under pressure, we negotiate; why should it be this way? We have not even been able to gain the trust of the Europeans during this time. The Europeans work with us, but they do not trust us. We see what issues have arisen between Iran and the European Union during this time." He continued, "I do not want to recount the issues, but these events have caused the trust of the Europeans in Iran to diminish. With two or three wrong actions, the trust that was being built has been lost. Those who believe that by carrying out certain operations or rogue actions they can secure the national interests of the country must be clearly told that their perception is wrong, and their actions are not in line with increasing Iran's power but are against it."