Three Iranians arrested in Denmark on charges of spying for Saudi Arabia
The Danish government has announced the arrest of three Iranians. The three, who are members of the “Arab Movement for the Liberation of Ahwaz,” are accused of spying for Saudi Arabia. The three have been engaged in espionage for six years. The group is armed and believes in the “independence” of Ahwaz.
The Danish Intelligence and Security Service announced on Monday, February 3, the arrest of three members of the “Arab Movement for the Liberation of Ahwaz” on charges of spying for Saudi Arabia. The head of the Danish Intelligence and Security Service, Bush Anders, said about the three that they had been spying for Saudi intelligence within Denmark between 2012 and 2018.
Danish security officials have told news agencies that the men were collecting information about Danish individuals and companies for Saudi Arabia's intelligence service. The German news agency reported a statement from Borsch Andersen, which said: "Among other things, the arrested men were collecting information about individuals and companies living in Denmark and abroad and passing it on to Saudi Arabia's intelligence service."
The “Arab Movement for the Liberation of Ahwaz” group began its activities 14 years ago. The group’s program includes the liberation of Ahwaz and efforts to achieve recognition of the “right to sovereignty and independence of the Arab nation of Ahwaz,” as well as the establishment of the “Arab State of Ahwaz,” as part of the goals of the “Arab Movement for the Liberation of Ahwaz.”
Activities of Islamic Republic and Saudi Arabian figures in Europe
This is not the first time that people have been arrested in Denmark for spying for the Islamic Republic of Iran or Saudi Arabia. Two years ago, in November 2018, the Danish intelligence service published a report stating that the Islamic Republic was planning to assassinate members of the “Arab Liberation Movement of Ahwaz” on Danish soil, and had also arrested an Iranian in this regard.
In December last year, the Stockholm District Court sentenced an unnamed Swedish citizen of Iraqi descent to two and a half years in prison for unlawful actions against the “Ahwazi community” in several European countries. The court said the 46-year-old had collected information about the activities of Arabic-speaking Ahwazis in several European countries and provided it to Iranian security services. The statement issued following the verdict said: “The defendant’s activities, namely monitoring the activities of Ahwazis, could result in legal prosecution, harassment and even death for Ahwazis and their relatives in Iran.”
The court also said that the aforementioned “intelligence operations” were carried out systematically between 2015 and 2019. The defendant’s activities included filming participants in conferences and demonstrations of Arab-speaking Ahwazis in Sweden and several European countries, as well as photographing their car license plates.
The cycle of violence
On the last day of September 2018, during a parade of armed forces in Ahvaz, a group of four opened fire on the audience. In this armed attack, 24 people, including several civilians, were killed and about 60 others were injured.
After the attack, ISIS claimed responsibility by releasing a video of the attackers. The Islamic Republic, however, announced that the “Ahwaz Movement” was involved in the operation. During this armed operation, 24 people were killed by the attackers.
Following this attack, a wave of arrests began in Ahvaz in November of that year. Ahvaz activists reported the arrest of around 800 men and women in Ahvaz, including political and cultural activists and ordinary citizens. These arrests prompted a response from Amnesty International.
At the time, it was reported that 22 of them had been executed in secret. Amnesty International called for an immediate clarification of the fate and whereabouts of hundreds of Ahwazi Arabs who were being held without access to their families or lawyers.
After the attack on the Iranian armed forces parade in September last year, Iran summoned the ambassadors of the Netherlands, Denmark, and the British chargé d'affaires to protest the group's activities in Europe.
Previously, in July 2018, the Dutch government expelled two Iranian embassy employees from the country. It was said that the expulsion of the two was in connection with the killing of Ahmad Mawla Abu Nahid, known as Ahmad Nisi, the founder of the “Arab Liberation Movement of Ahwaz.” He was assassinated in front of his home in The Hague in November 2017.
Source: DW
