A 32-year-old Iranian man has been arrested in Germany on suspicion of planning a terrorist attack using toxins such as cyanide and ricin, a highly toxic protein. His apartment in Castrop-Rauxel, North Rhine-Westphalia, was searched for such substances last night, according to a statement from the Düsseldorf public prosecutor’s office and the police. The suspicion is that the man “prepared an act of violence seriously endangering the security of the state, procured cyanide and ricin in order to carry out an Islamist attack,” the press release continues, which, however, does not specify whether the danger is immediate and immediate existed At what stage were the preparations?
Germany, home of the suspected terrorist: “He planned an attack with chemical weapons”
The Düsseldorf public prosecutor’s office also requested the arrest of the young man’s younger brother, a 25-year-old: arrested because he was with the 32-year-old at the time of the police raid on Castrop Rauxel’s apartment, he could be involved in the scheme for the attack toxic obtain substances.
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According to German newspapers, the German authorities have been warned in recent days about the danger of a biological attack by the FBI. According to reports from the world, the man had initially planned the attack for New Year’s Eve, but then withdrew for reasons that are still unclear.
The Federal Criminal Police Office has been investigating the alleged Iranian terrorist for days. A “friend of the secret services” had warned the German security authorities of the danger of a chemical attack. It is not yet clear how far the plans have progressed. Likewise if there was already an attack target. “We received serious information that prompted the police to intervene during the night,” said North Rhine-Westphalia’s Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) on Sunday morning. Now we have to wait for the results of the investigation. According to Reul, the police are investigating extensively.
As early as 2018, a terrorist (then 29 years old) wanted to detonate a ricin bomb in Cologne. Together with his wife, the Tunisian had produced the biological warfare agent from castor beans and wanted to detonate the deadly explosive device together with 250 steel balls. The Islamic State has repeatedly called on its followers to carry out such devastating biological attacks and published instructions on how to make bombs.