A German court convicted two men of spying on prominent Jewish figures and preparing attacks against them on behalf of Iran's Revolutionary Guards Quds Force, sentencing both to prison on Thursday.
Ali Hassan Sarwari and Tawab Mohsini gathered information about Josef Schuster, president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, and Volker Beck, president of the German-Israeli Society, and monitored them in Berlin, according to evidence presented at the Hamburg Higher Regional Court.
Sarwari had participated in acts of "state terrorism by the Iranian regime," the presiding judge said.
The judge said Sarwari had traveled to Iran several times and met Revolutionary Guards intelligence and security operatives, including Ali Heydari and Kazem Mohammadi, from whom he received instructions.
The court sentenced Sarwari to eight years and six months in prison and Mohsini to four years and six months. Both verdicts can be appealed.
Direct orders from the Quds Force
Sarwari, a Danish citizen of Afghan origin, received instructions directly from officers of the Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force, according to the indictment.
Prosecutors said Sarwari sought Mohsini's cooperation in assassinating Beck or recruiting someone else to carry out the killing. The two eventually agreed to find a third person for the operation.
Sarwari was also accused of preparing an arson attack against a Jewish-owned kosher grocery store in Berlin.
German federal prosecutors had requested the prison terms ultimately imposed by the court, while defense lawyers sought acquittals for both defendants.
Surveillance and evidence presented in court
During the second hearing in July, an investigator from Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office described how authorities monitored Sarwari's communications and movements over an extended period.
The investigator said Sarwari had met individuals linked to the Quds Force during trips to Iran, including a man identified as responsible for the force's Israel operations.
Evidence recovered from Sarwari's phone included searches for Jewish-owned kosher grocery stores in Berlin, Schuster's address and saved photographs of Beck.
Investigators also recorded Sarwari photographing one of the stores.
The court was shown photographs of meetings between the defendants at a McDonald's restaurant. Investigators also described their use of Telegram to communicate with individuals identified as Quds Force contacts.
According to the police witness, Sarwari had asked his daughter whether she knew a Palestinian or Somali woman who needed money and would be willing to set fire to a Jewish-owned store for 30,000 Danish kroner, approximately 4,000 euros.
The testimony formed part of the evidence concerning preparations for the arson attack.
Beck, identified in the indictment as a potential assassination target, attended the second hearing.
The verdict followed months of proceedings examining the defendants' links to the Revolutionary Guards and their preparations for attacks against Jewish targets in Germany.
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