Germany Investigates Spy Activity in Europe Linked to Former Iranian Diplomat

Germany Investigates Spy Activity in Europe Linked to Former Iranian Diplomat
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Germany Investigates Spy Activity in Europe Linked to Former Iranian Diplomat

Germany Investigates Spy Activity in Europe Linked to Former Iranian Diplomat

Germany is conducting extensive investigations to track down Iranian intelligence activity on its soil, revealed documents retrieved from ongoing probes.

Spy activity connected to Tehran is being traced through ledgers collected from a former Iranian diplomat’s car.

Asadollah Asadi had worked as a diplomat at the Iranian embassy in Vienna until he was arrested in Bavaria in 2018 for involvement in plotting the attempted bombing of an assembly organized by the National Council of Resistance in Iran (NCRI) outside Paris.

German authorities had handed him over to Belgium, where his trial is currently taking place in the port city of Antwerp alongside the trial of a Belgian-Iranian couple who were arrested for attempting to stage the attack.

When Asadi was arrested on July 1, 2018, the German police discovered many documents, including a black ledger in his car, with coded dots, which seem to be instructions on making bombs, a report by German TV’s Channel One said.

Instructions found in the black ledger are believed to have been intended for the arrested couple, whose verdict is expected to be announced this February.

The Channel One report said that the couple received hundreds of thousands of euros in the past several years for their cooperation with the Iranian secret service.

Among other documents discovered in Asadi’s belongings is a green checkered ledger with 200 pages, with receipts that show the diplomat has distributed cash among some individuals in different European countries.

The green ledger has 289 Latin and Persian notes, which mention tourist attractions, stores, hotels, and restaurants, with times and dates. These spots are believed to have been visited by Asadi.

German agents have figured out that this information involves around 11 countries including France, Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Belgium, Netherlands, and Italy, but there are also 144 notes about locations in Germany.

One note points to the entrance of the Hamburg Islamic Center, which is under German internal security surveillance. According to German intelligence, the center is used by the Iranian regime to “export revolution” and is known for supporting Lebanese militias.

When interrogated by German authorities, Asadi defended himself by saying that he was merely a tourist and that the sites found in the green ledger are for touristic spots he used to visit accompanied by his children.

Asadi, however, had been carrying several receipts that indicate suspicious cash payments. The recipients who have signed the receipts all have very common Iranian names and their identities are still unknown.

Some have received payments between 2,500-5,000 euros. Another individual has confirmed receiving a laptop. German police speculate that the payments are for espionage.

Sources at the NCRI have confirmed reported findings to Asharq Al-Awsat.

“The Iranian Ministry of Intelligence has a network of agents in Europe that are managed with the help of Iranian embassies, and the misuse of diplomatic capabilities,”Javad Dabiran, a spokesman for the Iranian opposition group, told Asharq Al-Awsat

“Asadi is the head of Iranian intelligence in Europe and used to run a network of spies,” Dabiran confirmed, adding that three agents linked to the ex-diplomat now face trial in Belgium.

“At least 40% of Asadi's meetings with his network of agents were held in Germany,” he noted.

Dabiran warned that there are various Iranian terrorist sleeper cells and spy rings across Europe and that they are handled by Iranian embassies.



Texas Flood Toll Rises to 24 as Rescuers Search for Missing Children

Members of Task Force 1 deploy boats along the Guadalupe River in the wake of a destructive flooding event in Kerrville on Friday July 4, 2025. (Christopher Lee/The San Antonio Express-News via AP)
Members of Task Force 1 deploy boats along the Guadalupe River in the wake of a destructive flooding event in Kerrville on Friday July 4, 2025. (Christopher Lee/The San Antonio Express-News via AP)
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Texas Flood Toll Rises to 24 as Rescuers Search for Missing Children

Members of Task Force 1 deploy boats along the Guadalupe River in the wake of a destructive flooding event in Kerrville on Friday July 4, 2025. (Christopher Lee/The San Antonio Express-News via AP)
Members of Task Force 1 deploy boats along the Guadalupe River in the wake of a destructive flooding event in Kerrville on Friday July 4, 2025. (Christopher Lee/The San Antonio Express-News via AP)

Rescuers were desperately searching for at least 20 girls missing from a riverside summer camp, officials said Friday, after torrential rains caused a "catastrophic" flash flood that killed at least 24 people as it swept through south-central Texas.

"At this point we're at about 24 fatalities," Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha told an evening press conference as rescue teams scrambled to locate stranded residents in the region northwest of San Antonio, reported AFP.

Some of the dead were children, Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick said at a previous news conference.

The county sheriff said there were "kids that are still missing", adding that between 23 and 25 people were unaccounted for.

Lieutenant Governor Patrick previously said "about 23" girls attending a summer camp in the flooded Kerr County were missing.

They were part of a group of around 750 children at Camp Mystic, a girls summer camp along the banks of the Guadalupe River which rose 26 feet (eight meters) in 45 minutes with heavy rainfall overnight.

"That does not mean they've been lost, they could be in a tree, they could be out of communication," he said.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott said he was signing a "disaster declaration" to boost resources in counties in the region.

"It's terrible, the floods," US President Donald Trump told reporters Friday night. "It's shocking."

Asked if Texas would receive federal aid, he said: "Oh yeah, sure, we'll take care of it. We're working with the governor."

- Rescue efforts -

A massive rescue operation was underway in the region, with around 500 personnel and 14 helicopters helping in the search for survivors.

Texas military official Major General Thomas Suelzer told reporters at least 237 people had been rescued or evacuated by emergency personnel, with 167 rescues performed using helicopters.

Freeman Martin, director of the state's public safety department, told the evening conference: "We had a hard time getting in this morning with the weather the way it was."

"As the day went on, it picked up and we were able to rescue more and recover more, that will continue tomorrow," Martin said, calling the disaster a "mass casualty event."

US media reported that trucks had arrived at Camp Mystic to transport stranded people.

State and local officials warned against residents traveling to the area which includes camp grounds dotted along the river, with dozens of roads "impassable."

Videos on social media showed houses and trees swept away by the flash flood caused by heavy overnight rain of up to 12 inches -- one-third of Kerr County's average annual rainfall.

Governor Abbott shared a video on X of a victim being plucked from the top of a tree by a rescuer dangling from a helicopter, as floodwaters raged below.

"Air rescue missions like this are being done around the clock. We will not stop until everyone is accounted for," he said.

The Texas National Guard sent rescue teams and the US Coast Guard joined efforts as well.

- 'Another wave' -

Public safety official Martin warned of "another wave" that could impact other counties in the state, adding that "this is not going to end today".

Kerr County officials have repeatedly said they were unaware of an impending flood overnight from Thursday to Friday.

"We didn't know this flood was coming," Kerr County judge Rob Kelly said earlier on Friday, adding that the region has "floods all the time."

"This is the most dangerous river valley in the United States," he added, referring to the Guadalupe River.

Soila Reyna, 55, a Kerrville resident who works at a local church helping people who lost their belongings, witnessed the devastation unfold.

"It has been years since we had a flood, but nothing like this," Reyna said.

"Nothing like as catastrophic as this, where it involved children, people and just the loss of people's houses and you know, it's just crazy," she added.

Forecasters issued a flood warning for Kerr County, urging those living near the river to "move to higher ground."

Flash floods, which occur when the ground is unable to absorb torrential rainfall, are not unusual.

But scientists say in recent years human-driven climate change has made extreme weather events like floods, droughts and heatwaves more frequent and intense.

In mid-June, at least 10 people were killed by flash flooding in San Antonio following torrential rains.

In the northeastern state of New Jersey, at least two people were killed when a tree fell on their vehicle during a "severe storm," local police confirmed on Friday.