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Germany Searches for Chemicals after Arresting Iranian Brothers Accused of Terrorism

German criminal police confiscate evidence from the apartment of an Iranian detainee who was preparing a terrorist operation (AP)
German criminal police confiscate evidence from the apartment of an Iranian detainee who was preparing a terrorist operation (AP)
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Germany Searches for Chemicals after Arresting Iranian Brothers Accused of Terrorism

German criminal police confiscate evidence from the apartment of an Iranian detainee who was preparing a terrorist operation (AP)
German criminal police confiscate evidence from the apartment of an Iranian detainee who was preparing a terrorist operation (AP)

German authorities raided new sites in search of chemicals, a day after they had arrested two Iranian suspects who were preparing a terrorist attack using biological weapons, according to the Düsseldorf prosecutor’s office.

Police and investigators are still searching for evidence in the case, but they have not yet found any chemicals, according to security sources cited by the German news website, Der Spiegel.

Officials said Monday that, during searches of multiple locations in connection with the investigation, they found a package with unknown contents in a garage, which was to be removed for inspection. Some homes in the immediate vicinity were evacuated as a precaution.

Police agents raided the Iranians’ home in the city of Castrop-Rauxel, in western Germany’s North-Rhine Westphalia state, around midnight Saturday night after neighbors had reported suspicious activity.

Several police, firefighters and rescue workers took part, with many emergency personnel donning biochemical protection suits.

Despite the raid, authorities couldn’t find what they were looking for.

Two arrest warrants were issued against the Iranians, who are brothers, and the public prosecutor charged the main suspect in the case, Mounir J., a 32-year-old Iranian national, with preparing a terrorist attack because of his sympathy with ISIS.

The prosecution is accusing Mounir of wanting to make a biological bomb after possessing highly toxic materials, namely ricin and cyanide.

The police arrested the main suspect and his brother after obtaining information about their preparation for an imminent attack from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The involvement of the brother, who was arrested during the operation, remains unclear. According to German media, the main suspect wanted to carry out the attack on New Year's Eve.

He, however, was not able to obtain all the necessary materials in time.

The two brothers arrived in Germany in 2015 and applied for asylum.

According to media sources, the main suspect claimed that he was a Christian persecuted in Iran.

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ICC Warrants are Binding, EU Cannot Pick and Choose, EU's Borrell Says

23 May 2023, Israel, Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a statement in the Knesset. (dpa)
23 May 2023, Israel, Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a statement in the Knesset. (dpa)
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ICC Warrants are Binding, EU Cannot Pick and Choose, EU's Borrell Says

23 May 2023, Israel, Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a statement in the Knesset. (dpa)
23 May 2023, Israel, Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a statement in the Knesset. (dpa)

European Union governments cannot pick and choose whether to execute arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court against two Israeli leaders and a Hamas commander, the EU's foreign policy chief said on Saturday.

The ICC issued the warrants on Thursday against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas leader Ibrahim Al-Masri, for alleged crimes against humanity.

All EU member states are signatories to the ICC's founding treaty, called the Rome Statute.

Several EU states have said they will meet their commitments under the statute if needed, but Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has invited Netanyahu to visit his country, assuring him he would face no risks if he did so.

"The states that signed the Rome convention are obliged to implement the decision of the court. It's not optional," Josep Borrell, the EU's top diplomat, said during a visit to Cyprus for a workshop of Israeli and Palestinian peace activists.

Those same obligations were also binding on countries aspiring to join the EU, he said.

"It would be very funny that the newcomers have an obligation that current members don't fulfil," he told Reuters.

The United States rejected the ICC's decision and Israel said the ICC move was antisemitic.

"Every time someone disagrees with the policy of one Israeli government - (they are) being accused of antisemitism," said Borrell, whose term as EU foreign policy chief ends this month.

"I have the right to criticize the decisions of the Israeli government, be it Mr Netanyahu or someone else, without being accused of antisemitism. This is not acceptable. That's enough."

Israel's 13-month campaign in Gaza has killed about 44,000 Palestinians and displaced nearly all the enclave's population while creating a humanitarian crisis, Gaza officials say.

In their decision, the ICC judges said there were reasonable grounds to believe Netanyahu and Gallant were criminally responsible for acts including murder, persecution and starvation as a weapon of war as part of a "widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population of Gaza".

The warrant for Masri lists charges of mass killings during the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks. Israel says it has killed Masri.