GERMANY/IRAN: Iranian man suspected of plotting a chemical assault driven by Islamic radicalism has been detained by German police.
The 32-year-old was apprehended at his apartment just before midnight on Saturday in Castrop-Rauxel, a town in western Germany near Dortmund.
Authorities claimed on Sunday that the guy was apprehended after receiving a warning from a foreign intelligence agency that he had acquired toxins, such as cyanide and ricin, with which he meant to carry out a terror attack.
The man was detained along with another individual, who was allegedly his brother. Police were aware of him, but not because of any connections to terrorism, and it is not yet known whether he was part of the scheme.
It’s thought that the brothers have resided in Germany since 2015.
The men were escorted by police in bulky protective suits as they were placed into waiting for police vehicles in the narrow shopping strip while only wearing their underpants and coats slung over their shoulders. They are detained and kept.
The SEK special forces who planned the operation, according to reports, arrived in the street in a fire engine to remain undetected until the very end.
The operation was supported by a demolition unit and a decontamination unit made up of officers and researchers from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the government’s organisation for disease control and prevention.
No hazardous materials were discovered in the apartment, according to a representative for the state prosecutor in Düsseldorf.
After identifying the primary suspect as a supporter of the terrorist organisation Islamic State, they said he had intended to attack in their name.
According to reports in German media on Sunday, the FBI had provided the information. According to German security officials who identified him as a fan of a “Sunni Islamist terror group,” it is not thought that he was acting on behalf of the Iranian government.
The preparations were well developed, according to the newspaper Bild, which cited security officials. Security agents found that the main suspect had purchased cyanide and ricin to construct a bioweapon after searching for the chemicals online.
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