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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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World

NGO Slams Greek Shippers over Deliveries to Israel

A boy rides his bicycle past an Israel flag on Yom Kippur in Tel Aviv, Israel October 12, 2024. (Reuters)
A boy rides his bicycle past an Israel flag on Yom Kippur in Tel Aviv, Israel October 12, 2024. (Reuters)
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NGO Slams Greek Shippers over Deliveries to Israel

A boy rides his bicycle past an Israel flag on Yom Kippur in Tel Aviv, Israel October 12, 2024. (Reuters)
A boy rides his bicycle past an Israel flag on Yom Kippur in Tel Aviv, Israel October 12, 2024. (Reuters)

A pro-Palestinian campaign group on Monday accused Greek shipping firms of transporting oil and military equipment to Israel that helps its war in Gaza, in some cases breaching a Turkish embargo on trade with Israel.

The "No Harbour for Genocide" group called on Greek authorities to investigate and sanction firms running vessels that "turned off their tracking signals and listed false end-destinations before arriving at Israeli ports" to avoid detection.

The group released a report that said between May 2024 and December 2025 at least 57 "covert crude oil shipments" took about 47 million barrels of oil from Turkey to Israel "in violation of Turkey's trade embargo on Israel" since May 2024.

It said some of the oil was being refined into "fuel for the Israeli air force and fuel for military vehicles and tanks".

The report named a number of firms involved in "the shipment of both energy products and military cargo to Israel" that made them "a critical enabler of Israel's genocide and illegal occupation of Palestine, as well as its escalating aggression across the region".

Israel denies that its actions in the Gaza conflict since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks amount to genocide.

The Union of Greek Shipowners did not immediately comment on the report, AFP reported.

Greek firms run one of the world's biggest shipping fleets and the industry accounts for about eight percent of Greece's gross domestic product.

World

Israel Defense Minister Says Struck Iran's Largest Petrochemical Facility

A satellite image shows a closer view of the Natanz Nuclear Facility with new building damage, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, near Natanz, Iran, March 2, 2026. (Vantor/Handout via Reuters)
A satellite image shows a closer view of the Natanz Nuclear Facility with new building damage, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, near Natanz, Iran, March 2, 2026. (Vantor/Handout via Reuters)
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Israel Defense Minister Says Struck Iran's Largest Petrochemical Facility

A satellite image shows a closer view of the Natanz Nuclear Facility with new building damage, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, near Natanz, Iran, March 2, 2026. (Vantor/Handout via Reuters)
A satellite image shows a closer view of the Natanz Nuclear Facility with new building damage, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, near Natanz, Iran, March 2, 2026. (Vantor/Handout via Reuters)

Defense Minister Israel Katz said Monday that Israel had conducted a "powerful strike" on Iran's largest petrochemical complex, after Iranian media reported multiple explosions at the site.

The military "just carried out a powerful strike on Iran's largest petrochemical facility, located in Asaluyeh -- a central target responsible for about 50 percent of the country's petrochemical production", Katz said in a video statement.

Israel carried out a similar strike on the Mahshahr Petrochemical Special Zone in southwest Khuzestan province on Saturday, a local Iranian official said, adding that five people were killed, AFP reported.

"At this point, the two facilities, which together account for roughly 85 percent of Iran's petrochemical exports, have been taken out of operation and are no longer functioning," Katz said.

"This represents a severe economic blow amounting to tens of billions of dollars to the Iranian regime."

Israel also carried out strikes last month on gas facilities at the South Pars Special Economic Zone in Asaluyeh.

The South Pars/North Dome mega-field -- the largest known natural gas reserve in the world -- is shared between Iran and Qatar.

In recent days, Israel has targeted key industrial sectors as part of the ongoing military campaign against Iran.

On Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israeli strikes had destroyed around 70 percent of Iran's steel production capacity, significantly undermining Tehran's ability to manufacture weapons.

Steel is a strategically important material used in industrial and military production, including for missiles, drones and ships.

Katz said he and Netanyahu had ordered the military "to continue striking with full force Iran's national infrastructure".

World

Israel Says to Boost Production of Arrow Missile Interceptors

Emergency personnel carry a body at the site of a projectile impact, as the US-Israeli conflict with Iran continues, in Haifa, Israel, April 6, 2026. REUTERS/Shir Torem
Emergency personnel carry a body at the site of a projectile impact, as the US-Israeli conflict with Iran continues, in Haifa, Israel, April 6, 2026. REUTERS/Shir Torem
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Israel Says to Boost Production of Arrow Missile Interceptors

Emergency personnel carry a body at the site of a projectile impact, as the US-Israeli conflict with Iran continues, in Haifa, Israel, April 6, 2026. REUTERS/Shir Torem
Emergency personnel carry a body at the site of a projectile impact, as the US-Israeli conflict with Iran continues, in Haifa, Israel, April 6, 2026. REUTERS/Shir Torem

Israel's defense ministry on Monday said it plans to accelerate production of Arrow missile interceptors, as it fights a war with Iran.

The announcement came after questions emerged in the international media over how long Israel's interceptor stocks would last, with some analysts pointing to shortages of Arrow interceptors in particular.

Israel has a multi-layered air defense array, with a variety of systems intercepting threats at different altitudes.

The top tier consists of the anti-ballistic missile Arrow systems, with Arrow 2 operating both within the Earth's atmosphere and in space and Arrow 3 intercepting above the Earth's atmosphere.

"The Ministerial Committee for Procurement has approved the Israel Ministry of Defense (IMOD) plan for a major additional acceleration of Arrow interceptor production," AFP quoted a defense ministry statement as saying.

It added that the plan would enable "a significant increase in both the production rate and stockpile of Arrow interceptors as part of preparations for the evolving campaign".

Defense Minister Israel Katz was quoted in the statement as saying that "Israel has sufficient interceptors to protect its citizens, and this initiative is designed to ensure continued freedom of action and the sustained operational endurance we require."

Each Arrow 2 interceptor costs an estimated $1.5 million, with Arrow 3s around $2 million.