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Iran accuses Israel of ‘false flag’ operation in Denmark assassination plot  

November 1, 2018 at 3:31 pm

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on 17 March 2017 [EnglishPars/Twitter]

An alleged Iranian murder plot in Denmark to kill a political dissident has been swept aside by the country’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif as a “false flag” operation carried out by the Israeli Mossad.

The remark was made by Zarif in relation to the uncovering of a murder plot by Sweden’s intelligence agencies in September. They blamed Tehran for the foiled plot to assassinate an Iranian dissident on Danish soil. Following the discovery of the plot there was a massive police operation in which Denmark shut down streets and bridges nationwide.

This week Danish officials said that they had prevented what they said was a plan to kill a member of the separatist Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of al-Ahwaz (ASMLA). The organisation was set up in 1999, and is classified as a terrorist group in Iran.

As more details of the operation came to light, Turkish news agency Anadolu reported that Israel had claimed it had provided information that led to the foiling of the assassination.

Mossad is reported to have passed intelligence information to the authorities in Copenhagen that led to the arrest of two Iranian nationals who were believed to have been preparing explosive devices for the assassination.

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News of Israel’s involvement in foiling the attack prompted Zarif to state that the attack was in fact a “false flag” operation carried out by Israel and that there would be “more in this later”; which is likely to be an indication that the Iranians held evidence to prove their allegation.

“Mossad’s perverse & stubborn planting of false flags (more on this later) only strengthens our resolve to engage constructively with the world”, said Zarif on Twitter. The foreign minister who was tweeting from Pakistan added, “Imp [important] talks in Pakistan today, preceded by tripartite mtng [meeting] with Turkey & Azerbaijan yesterday. Solid relations w/neighbors our priority”.