In May, a Paris court detained a couple and accused them of participating in an Iranian plot to murder Jews in Germany and France, police sources told AFP.
Authorities on May 4 charged Abdelkrim S., 34, and his partner, Sabrina B., 33, with conspiring with a criminal terrorist organization and placed them in pretrial detention.
The case, known as “Marco Polo”, was revealed by French news website Mediapart on Thursday and indicates a resurgence of Iranian state-sponsored terrorism in Europe, according to a report by France’s Directorate-General for Internal Security (DGSI).
“Since 2015, the Iranian (secret) services have resumed the policy of targeted assassinations,” the French security agency wrote, adding that “this threat has increased again in the context of the Israel-Hamas war.”
The alleged aim of Iranian intelligence agencies was to target civilians and create fear among the country’s political opposition as well as Jews and Israelis in Europe.
Iran has been accused of recruiting criminals, including drug lords, for such operations.
Abdelkrim S was previously sentenced to 10 years in prison for a murder in Marseille and was released on probation in July 2023.
He is accused of being the main France-based operative of an Iran-sponsored terrorist cell that planned violence in France and Germany.
According to the DGSI, a former fellow inmate is believed to have introduced the suspect to the cell’s coordinator, a major drug trafficker in the Lyon region who possibly travelled to Iran in May.
The group intended to attack a former employee of a Paris-based Israeli security firm and three of his colleagues living in a Paris suburb.
Three Israeli-German citizens were also among the targets in Munich and Berlin.
Investigators believe Abdelkrim S. made multiple trips to Germany for the purpose of espionage despite his probation, including a trip to Berlin with his wife.
He denied the allegations and said he just had to go shopping.
French authorities are also accusing the cell of plotting to set fire to four Israeli-owned companies in the south of France between late December 2023 and early January 2024, a police source said.
The source said that while in custody, Abdelkrim S. rejected these claims and said that he had acted as an intermediary on Telegram for the mastermind and other individuals involved in a planned insurance scam.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
