Germany Protests to Iranian Ambassador in Berlin Over 'Tehran's Espionage'

While Iran has denied the summoning of its ambassador to Germany by the country's Foreign Ministry, Berlin claims it summoned the Islamic Republic's ambassador over 'espionage' activities. The German Foreign Ministry stated that the Iranian ambassador was summoned to criticize Tehran's efforts to spy on individuals and groups close to Israel. Berlin asserts that such actions are completely unacceptable and violate German laws. The summoning of the Iranian ambassador follows the sentencing of a Pakistani man in Berlin to four years and three months in prison for espionage on behalf of Iran. Haidar Syed Mustafa was found guilty of gathering information from the former president of the Germany-Israel Association and a French-Israeli economics professor in Paris for the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The German Foreign Ministry summoned the Iranian ambassador to convey Berlin's explicit objection to Tehran's actions. This meeting took place on December 22 of last year, but the news has only now been released. A German Foreign Ministry official stated, 'Espionage against individuals and entities with special ties to the Israeli government on German soil is a gross violation of German laws.' The official added that Philipp Ackermann, the acting director-general of the political department of the German Foreign Ministry, told the Iranian ambassador that 'such actions will not be tolerated and are completely unacceptable.' Just hours before this news was announced, the Iranian news agency ISNA quoted 'an informed source' at the Iranian embassy in Berlin denying the matter. This 'informed source' stated on Tuesday that 'there has been no warning or summoning for the Iranian ambassador.' Haidar Syed Mustafa entered the University of Bremen in Germany in 2012 to study engineering. He was arrested in July 2016 in the same city on charges of espionage for Iran. He is accused of receiving two thousand euros in exchange for providing information to Iran. The news of the summoning of the Islamic Republic's ambassador to the German Foreign Ministry comes just days before the foreign ministers of Iran, Germany, France, and the UK are set to meet in Brussels to discuss the nuclear agreement with Tehran and concerns over the repression of anti-government protesters. Germany, which was part of the P5+1 group in nuclear negotiations with Iran, seeks to balance its economic interests in expanding relations with Iran while making a serious commitment to strengthening human rights. Berlin is among the European countries trying to encourage the United States to maintain the July 2015 agreement with Iran. The German domestic security service, which monitors counter-espionage activities, highlighted espionage activities in its annual report released in July. This organization stated that Tehran is heavily focused on Israeli or pro-Jewish targets.