Iranian detained in Germany, suspected of planning ‘Islamist-motivated’ chemical attack

German police have arrested a 32-year-old Iranian national suspected of possessing the deadly poisons cyanide and ricin to carry out an “Islamist” attack, authorities in western Germany said on Sunday.

The suspect’s residence in the town of Castrop-Rauxel was searched as part of the investigation, according to a joint news release from the prosecutor’s office and Duesseldorf police in the towns of Recklinghausen and Muenster.

Police said the Iranians were suspected of planning “serious acts of violence that endanger the state” by allegedly obtaining cyanide and ricin to carry out Islamist-motivated attacks. It carries a prison sentence of between six months and 10 years.

“Germany continues to be a direct target of Islamic terrorist organizations. Islamically motivated lone perpetrators are another danger,” German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said after news of the investigation.

“So our security authorities expect preparations for attacks at any time,” he said, adding that since 2000, German security authorities have prevented 21 Islamic attacks in Germany.

Police seized electronic storage devices but did not find cyanide or ricin during the search in Castrop-Rauxel, Holger Heming of Duesseldorf’s public prosecutor’s office told Reuters TV.

Tips from allied security agencies

Castrop-Rauxel is located in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany’s most populous state, which Interior Minister Herbert Reul said: “We have a serious tip that led the police to intervene last night. The authorities are now investigating quickly.”

Heming said the tip came from the security agency of a “friendly country,” without elaborating. Mass tabloid Bild said the agency was the US Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Police said another person was detained as part of the search, adding that a decision on whether to issue a formal arrest warrant will be made at a later date as the investigation continues.

Heming confirmed the man as the suspect’s relative.

Ricin, found naturally in castor beans, can cause death within 36 to 72 hours of exposure to a pinhead-sized amount. There is no known antidote.

According to Germany’s domestic intelligence service, the number of members or supporters of the Islamic cause has shrunk by 1.5 percent to 28,290 individuals in 2021, citing the “military disintegration” of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militant group.

On December 19, 2016, Anis Amri, a failed Tunisian asylum seeker with Islamist ties, drove a truck into a crowded west Berlin Christmas market, killing 11 people and injuring dozens.

News of Sunday’s search also came a month after German authorities arrested 25 members and supporters of a far-right group that prosecutors said had been plotting a violent overthrow of the state.