Tehran rejected statements made by the head of the Danish Intelligence and Security Service (PET) about the illegal activities of Iranian intelligence services in Denmark, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Kasemi said as quoted by IRNA.
The official, as cited by IRNA, rejected "hostile" statements. He stated that "such statements correspond to plans and conspiracies against strong and constantly developing Iranian-European relations in the conditions of modern serious and special conditions," the statement by the Iranian Foreign Ministry official said.
Shortly before that, Danish Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen announced that the country had recalled their ambassador to Tehran over alleged connection between the Iranian intelligence and an attack on an individual in Denmark. Apart from the move, the minister stated that the Danish side would push for more EU-wide sanctions against Iran.
"It is a strong and extraordinary diplomatic step," Politiken quoted Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen as saying at a news conference in Copenhagen. The minister also said that Denmark would push for new sanctions against Tehran in light of the covert Iranian intelligence operation on the Danish soil.
Earlier in the day, the Danish Foreign Ministry summoned the Iranian Ambassador to Sweden Morteza Moradian to strongly condemn the alleged illegal activities of the Iranian intelligence services in the country.
Prior to that, Danish police reported that the Iranian intelligence services were suspected of an attempted attack on individuals in Denmark, adding that a Norwegian citizen with the Iranian background was arrested on October 21.
"This is a case that entails an Iranian intelligence operation in Denmark. In our view, it was an Iranian intelligence agency’s plan to assassinate a person who lives in Denmark," PET head Finn Borch Andersen said, as quoted by the Local portal.
The target of the alleged attack was the leader of the Danish branch of the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahwaz (ASMLA), Finn Borch Andersen, the head of Denmark's security service told reporters Tuesday.
The AMSLA supports the establishment of a separate Arab state in Iran’s Khuzestan Province and is considered to be a terrorist organization by Tehran. According to Andersen, three AMSLA members living in the Danish city of Ringsted, including the targeted individual, have been under police protection since spring.
Commenting on the situation, Danish Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen stated that the country would respond to alleged Iranian attack. At the same time, Norwegian police stated they were assisting their Danish colleagues over the case.
As the minister revealed, the arrested Norwegian citizen had denied charges in a court of helping a foreign intelligence service to plan an assassination in Denmark.
An Arab opposition group, the Ahwaz National Resistance, and Daesh terrorist group both claimed responsibility for the parade attack, though neither has provided conclusive evidence to back up their claim. The deadly assault took place during a military parade in the Khuzestan province of Iran, killing 25 people, including one journalist and, reportedly, over a dozen Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps servicemen.
READ MORE: Saudi Arabia Rejects Iran's Claims of Involvement in Parade Attack — Reports
Reacting to the attack, in September Iran summoned ambassadors of the United Kingdom, Netherlands and Denmark, accusing them of harboring Iranian opposition groups, referring to the Patriotic Arab Democratic Movement in Ahwaz. Commenting on the move, the Iranian Foreign Minister blamed the EU for not listing these groups as terrorist organizations.
READ MORE: Iran Summons Netherlands, Denmark, UK Ambassadors After Parade Attack — Reports
