Germany summons Iran's ambassador after court sentences two men over plots targeting a Jewish leader and a pro-Israel group's head

As of 5:09 p.m. ET, Monday, Oct. 19, 2026

Germany summoned Iran's ambassador on Monday, the German Foreign Office said, days after a Hamburg court sentenced two men over plots targeting Josef Schuster, president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, and Volker Beck, president of the German-Israeli Society, ZDFheute reported.

"We condemn Iran's activities in the strongest terms. We will not allow Iran to threaten our free society. The Iranian ambassador was summoned to the Federal Foreign Office today," the German Foreign Office said in a post on X. (Translated from German by GROKsiNEWS.com.)

In the first post of the same thread, the ministry said attacks on Jewish life "and on those who defend it" would not be tolerated, and that the "malicious attempted attacks" against Schuster and Beck "have legal consequences." (Translated from German by GROKsiNEWS.com.)

On Thursday, Oct. 15, the Hanseatic Higher Regional Court in Hamburg sentenced a 54-year-old man who lived in Denmark to eight and a half years in prison and his 43-year-old co-defendant to four and a half years for preparing attacks on Iran's behalf, ZDFheute reported. The court found that the older man had received his assignments in Tehran in early 2025 and was tasked with scouting Schuster, Beck and a kosher supermarket in Berlin, according to ZDFheute.

"Iran is trying to export its terror to Germany," presiding judge Petra Wende-Spors said in giving the verdict, ZDFheute reported. "That is unacceptable." (Translated from German by GROKsiNEWS.com.) The court said one of the men had been steered by Iran's intelligence service, Reuters reported.

The verdict is not yet final, ZDFheute reported.