Iran stepping up harassment of its nationals in Germany, says opposition group

BERLIN (Reuters) -Iranians living in Germany are facing increased harassment from Iranian security services, including threats and pressure to inform on other exiles, German authorities and an Iranian opposition group said.

German intelligence services have regularly reported Iranian pressure and spying conducted against exiled groups in Germany and the main domestic intelligence agency, BfV, said in its annual report last year that the danger remained high.

The BfV set up a special telephone line in 2024 for people to report on suspected cases of terrorism and foreign espionage activity.

"In recent months, there has been an increasing number of reports related to Iran," it told Reuters in an email in response to questions, but gave no detailed figures.

Iran's Foreign Ministry did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Within Iran itself, rights groups and activists have reported a crackdown on political dissent, with multiple accounts of harassment, detention and other forms of pressure, especially since the Israeli-U.S. air strikes in June, which destroyed much of Iran's aerial defence capacity.

Javad Dabiran, spokesperson for the National Council of Resistance of Iran, an opposition group banned in Iran but with a strong presence abroad, said he knew of more than 100 cases in Germany since the start of the year, adding they usually involved pressuring people to inform on other Iranian exiles.

The cases reflect "an unprecedented intensification" in the activities of Iranian intelligence services in Germany, he said.

Germany is home to around 144,000 Iranians, according to the statistics office.

Last month, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on human rights cited "a growing pattern of transnational repression" by Iranian authorities that targeted dissidents abroad through "intimidation, surveillance, and threats".

The NCRI cited cases in which it said its own members had contacted the German police to report harassment.

In one case, a 40-year-old Iranian Christian in the western German city of Essen said his siblings in Iran were contacted and threatened by the intelligence services there after he participated in a demonstration in Brussels in September.

(Reporting by James Mackenzie and Andreas RinkeEditing by Gareth Jones)