The German government has reportedly seen an uptick in spying by Iranian intelligence agents on Iranians based in Germany. The uptick in spying comes in light of the widespread protests in Iran that started last year.
Germany’s Welt am Sonntag reported on Saturday that Berlin has seen increased spying by Iranian intelligence agents on exiled Iranians based in Germany since the protests. This was Berlin’s response to an information request by the far-left Linke Party, saying the unrest in Iran triggered by the death of a woman named Mahsa Amini has resulted in “increasing indications of possible spying on opposition events and individuals” in Germany.
“Opposition groups and individuals…are considered by the rulers of Iran as a threat to the continued existence of the regime,” said the government. The German intelligence service identified 160 individuals who have ties to Germany and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.
The “extensive spying activities” by the IRGC are directed against pro-Israeli and pro-Jewish targets in Germany, according to the government in the outlet’s report.
Iran has been in a state of unrest since September last year when Amini’s death sparked widespread protests. Amini died days after she was detained by the morality police for allegedly violating the Islamic dress code on women, leading to one of the biggest challenges by the public to the Islamic Republic since 1979. Tehran has sought to blame its foreign adversaries like Israel and the United States for the unrest, and its hardline judiciary has executed four people on protest-related charges.
On the same day, Iran’s clerical regime celebrated the 44th anniversary of the 1979 Revolution with state-organized rallies and anti-government hackers briefly hijacked a televised speech by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. Raisi, in his remarks, south to appeal to the “deceived youth” to repent in order to be pardoned by Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Raisi’s speech was interrupted for a minute on the internet, showing a logo of a group of anti-Iranian government hackers referred to as “Edalate Ali” and a voice was heard shouting “Death to the Islamic Republic.”
Rights group HRANA said dozens of political prisoners and protesters as well as several prominent figures were freed under Khamenei’s amnesty but the conditions of their release remain unknown.