Plot thickens
December 2, 2011
Allegations that Iran was plotting to attack US military bases in Germany were thrown into doubt on Thursday, when a spokesman for the German federal prosecutor's office said there were no indications of any concrete plans.
The statement clashed with a report in the popular German daily Bild newspaper, which earlier suggested that the Iranians had drawn up plans to attack American targets in Germany in order to disrupt supply lines in the event of any US military action against Iran.
The prosecutor's spokesman explained there had been "the beginning of a suspicion" of espionage activity with the aim of sabotage. However, he added that investigations had failed to support such a suspicion.
'No immediate danger'
Earlier Wednesday, the head of the federal prosecutors' office, Harald Range, confirmed that an investigation had been launched and officers had conducted a house search in early November - well before the latest diplomatic tension between Iran and Europe.
The head of the federal crime office, Jörg Ziercke, added: "We do not see any immediate danger right now."
Bild claimed that officials were investigation a German businessman with close ties to the Iranian embassy in Berlin on "suspicion of acting as a foreign agent with the intention of sabotage."
The US embassy in Berlin declined to comment, but in Washington, a State Department spokesman said such threats were taken "very seriously."
There are some 55,000 US military personnel stationed in Germany, not including their family members.
Author: Joanna Impey (AFP, dpa)
Editor: Martin Kuebler