Berlin — A 32-year-old Iranian man has been arrested in Germany on suspicion of planning an assault with lethal chemical substances, officers mentioned Sunday.
Police and prosecutors mentioned the person and one other individual have been detained in a single day within the city of Castrop-Rauxel, northwest of Dortmund.
In a joint assertion, they mentioned the person is suspected to have deliberate a severe assault motivated by Islamic extremism, for which he had allegedly sought to acquire the potent toxins cyanide and ricin.
Specialists carrying anti-contamination fits have been seen carrying proof out of the person’s dwelling.
A spokesman for Duesseldorf prosecutors later mentioned an preliminary search of the premises turned up no poisonous substances, German news company dpa reported.
STEPHANE NITSCHKE / REUTERS
It wasn’t instantly clear how far superior the plans for an assault have been and whether or not the suspect had picked a particular goal.
The German news company dpa quoted the highest safety official for North Rhine-Westphalia state, Herbert Reul, as saying authorities had obtained “a serious tip that led police to intervene the same night.”
Tabloid newspaper Bild reported that the tip in regards to the alleged plot got here from an allied intelligence company.
Dpa cited unnamed German safety official saying there was no indication the suspect had acted on behalf of the Iranian state, however somewhat that he allegedly supported a Sunni extremist group. Sunnis are a non secular minority in Iran.
Germany’s prime safety official thanked police and specialists from the nation’s illness management company who had taken half within the raid.
“Our security services take any information about Islamist terror threats very seriously, and act,” Interior Minister Nancy Faeser mentioned in a press release, including that 21 Islamist assaults had been prevented in Germany for the reason that begin of the century.
Faeser famous the significance of worldwide cooperation in combating extremist threats and mentioned additional investigations by Duesseldorf prosecutors would present whether or not the suspicions that triggered the police operation have been warranted.
Five years in the past, German police arrested a Tunisian man and his spouse on suspicion of planning to hold out a ricin assault within the identify of the Islamic State group. They have been later discovered responsible and sentenced to 10 and eight years’ imprisonment, respectively.
Even small quantities of ricin, which is produced from the seeds of castor oil crops, can kill an grownup if eaten, injected or inhaled.
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