08 January 2019•Update: 08 January 2019
By Davut Colak
COPENHAGEN, Denmark
The EU has agreed to impose sanctions on an Iranian intelligence service over its alleged plots to assassinate figures critical to Tehran in Europe, Danish foreign minister said on Tuesday.
“EU just agreed to enact sanctions against an Iranian Intelligence Service for its assassination plots on European soil,” Anders Samuelsen wrote on Twitter.
“Strong signal from the EU that we will not accept such behavior in Europe,” Samuelsen added.
The foreign minister described the move as an “Important day for European Foreign Policy!”
Danish Foreign Ministry said together with the EU countries, the ministry has decided to include two persons from the Iranian intelligence, including director Saeid Hashemi Moghadam, to the EU’s terror list.
The decision comes after police averted plots by the Iranian intelligence service in Europe, including Denmark and France, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Last year, France froze the assets of two Iranians, including Moghadam, thought to be members of Iran's security and intelligence establishment over a bomb plot near Paris in June, 2018.
Last October, local media in Denmark reported that the county thwarted an Iranian plot to assassinate a Tehran opponent in the country after a bomb attack killed at least 25 people in Iran’s southwestern city of Ahvaz.
On Tuesday, Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen wrote on Twitter: “Very encouraging that EU has just agreed on new targeted sanctions against Iran in response to hostile activities and plots being planned and perpetrated in Europe, including Denmark.”
“EU stands united - such actions are unacceptable and must have consequences,” Rasmussen added.
