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IRAN

Sweden summons Iran envoy after storming

The Swedish foreign ministry sent for the Iranian ambassador on Wednesday to discuss what officials described as the "unacceptable" attack on the British embassy in Tehran.

Sweden summons Iran envoy after storming

“The ambassador was summoned to the foreign ministry this morning,” ministry spokeswoman Linn Duvhammar told AFP.

Iran’s head of mission, Rasoul Eslami, met with Robert Rydberg, the head of the ministry’s Middle East and North Africa unit, a day after protesters rampaged through two British diplomatic compounds in the capital, one of which contained its embassy, tearing down the British flag and torching documents.

The protesters were reflecting official anger at Britain’s decision last week to cut all relations with Iran’s financial sector as part of a raft of new sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme.

Duvhammar said Sweden, like the rest of the European Union, considered the protests “unacceptable.”

She would not disclose the details of Wednesday’s meeting, but said the Iranian ambassador was reminded that “Iran is required to ensure the safety of the British embassy.”

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Carl Bildt told Swedish news agency TT that Stockholm had no plans to recall its ambassador after Germany announced it was doing so.

“We underlined for him that the protection of embassies is a key responsibility for countries, and I think he got the message,” he said.

Neighbouring Norway meanwhile announced earlier Wednesday it was temporarily closing its embassy in Tehran due to security concerns.

Britain on Wednesday ordered the closure of the Iranian embassy in London and shut its mission in Tehran after the attack.

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TRIAL

Danish terror trial begins against Iranian separatists

Three leaders of an Iranian Arab separatist group pleaded not guilty to financing and promoting terrorism in Iran with Saudi Arabia's backing, as their trial opened in Denmark on Thursday.

Danish terror trial begins against Iranian separatists
File photo: Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix

The three risk 12 years in prison if found guilty.

Aged 39 to 50, the trio are members of the separatist organisation ASMLA (Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahvaz), which is based in Denmark and the Netherlands and which Iran considers a terrorist group.

The three, one of whom is a Danish citizen, have been held in custody in Denmark since February 2020.

Gert Dyrn, lawyer for the eldest of the three, told AFP that in his client’s opinion “what they are charged with is legitimate resistance towards an oppressive regime.”

“They are not denying receiving money from multiple sources, including Saudi Arabia, to help the movement and help them accomplish their political aim,” Dyrn said. 

His client has lived as a refugee in Denmark since 2006. 

According to the charge sheet seen by AFP, the three received around 30 million kroner (four million euros, $4.9 million) for ASMLA and its armed branch, through bank accounts in Austria and the United Arab Emirates.

The trio is also accused of spying on people and organisations in Denmark between 2012 and 2020 for Saudi intelligence.

Finally, they are also accused of promoting terrorism and “encouraging the activities of the terrorist movement Jaish Al-Adl, which has activities in Iran, by supporting them with advice, promotion, and coordinating attacks.”

The case dates back to 2018 when one of the three was the target of a foiled attack on Danish soil believed to be sponsored by the Iranian regime in retaliation for the killing of 24 people in Ahvaz, southwestern Iran, in September 2018.

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Tehran formally denied the attack plan in Denmark, but a Danish court last year jailed a Norwegian-Iranian for seven years for his role in the plot. 

That attack put Danish authorities on the trail of the trio’s ASMLA activities.

Sunni Saudi Arabia is the main rival in the Middle East of Shia Iran, and Tehran regularly accuses it, along with Israel and the United States, of supporting separatist groups.

Lawyer Gert Dyrn said this was “the first case in Denmark within terror law where you have to consider who is a terrorist and who is a freedom fighter.”

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