Iranian brothers held in Germany over suspected terror plot

They were accused of wanting to obtain toxins cyanide and ricin in order to kill an indefinite number of people.

Agents wearing protective suits examine substances seized during the raid on the apartment in the town of Castrop-Rauxel on Sunday. Picture: AFP

Two Iranian brothers have been arrested in western Germany accused of planning an “Islamist attack” using lethal toxins.

Prosecutors accused the men on Sunday of “planning to carry out an Islamist attack in which they wanted to obtain toxins – cyanide and ricin – in order to kill an indefinite number of people”.

The brothers, 32 and 25, were referred to by the Dusseldorf prosecutor’s office as “M. J.” and “J. J.” respectively.

An initial search of the men’s apartment in Castrop-Rauxel, a town near Dortmund in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, did not uncover any traces of the toxic substances, Dusseldorf prosecutor Holger Heming said.

The two men would, however, be charged with “conspiracy” to commit murder, a crime which could carry a prison sentence of between three to 15 years, prosecutors said.

Agents wearing protective suits against the potential chemical hazard carried out the raids in Castrop-Rauxel overnight into Sunday.

Images from the news channel NTV, showed the two men being led away in their underwear with jackets thrown over their shoulders.

“Our security forces take every suggestion of Islamist terror threats very seriously and act accordingly,” federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said.

Authorities had been given a “serious tip” that prompted the overnight raid, said Herbert Reul, the Interior Minister for North Rhine-Westphalia.

The German security services were alerted to the chemical terror threat by colleagues from the FBI, according to media reports. The American security services are said to have infiltrated a Telegram chat group where the two suspects “asked about bomb construction plans and later about toxins”, according to a ­report from Der Spiegel weekly.

Ricin is a highly toxic substance that is classed as a “chemical weapon” in Germany.

Produced by processing castor beans, ricin is lethal in minute doses if swallowed, inhaled or ­injected and 6000 times more potent than cyanide, with no known antidote.

In 2018, a Tunisian man and his wife were arrested on suspicion of planning a chemical ­attack in Germany. The couple, who sympathised with Islamic State, were found to have had 84mg of ricin in their Cologne apartment.

The pair had ordered castor seeds, explosives and metal ball bearings on the internet to build a toxic bomb. The man was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2020, while his wife received an eight-year sentence.

Germany has been targeted in recent years by several Islamist attacks, including a 2016 truck attack on a Christmas market that killed 12 people and left dozens injured.

A 13th victim died five years later having suffered serious ­injuries in the assault.

Though security officials feared the planning in Castrop-Rauxel could be advanced, they didn’t elaborate on how far along the plans for the attack were or whether a specific target had ­already been selected.

“We are analysing the ­secured evidence to determine how concrete the attack plans were or not,” Mr Heming said.

“That is the basis of our ­investigation.”

AFP