Adversary Intelligence — 2026-10-16

German Court Sentences Two Men to Prison for Spying on Jewish Figures for Irans Revolutionary Guards Quds Force

BLUFHamburg's judicial attribution of the assassination plot to the Quds Force gives Berlin a formal basis to escalate against Tehran, but Ali S. will very likely appeal by October 30, keeping the finding contested.

The Hamburg Higher Regional Court on Thursday sentenced Danish national Ali S., 54, to eight years and six months for preparing an assassination and aggravated arson, and Afghan national Tawab M., 43, to four years and six months 12. Reuters, carried by TimesLIVE, reported the court found S. was recruited by Iranian intelligence, while dpa reported he took instructions directly from Quds Force officers and surveilled Volker Beck and Josef Schuster 12. Per dpa, the plot involved recruiting a third party to kill Beck, obtaining a silenced pistol, and offering 30,000 Danish kroner for an arson attack on a Berlin kosher grocery 23. Federal prosecutors got the sentences they sought, the defense had sought acquittals, and S.'s lawyer said he will appeal, calling the ruling political 2.

Analysis
Ali S. or his defense will very likely appeal the Hamburg verdict by October 30, 2026. Confidence is high because his lawyer has publicly promised an appeal and the defense sought acquittals for both men. An appeal would keep the court's attribution of the plot to the Revolutionary Guards contested and delay any final finding Berlin could cite. The June trial opening has now produced convictions naming the Quds Force as client, showing Tehran using criminal proxies recruited in Denmark. Sourcing is thinner than the outlet count suggests, since the Shabtab and Iran International items duplicate each other and dpa alone supplies the courtroom detail. The appeal may be aimed mainly at the political framing, and convictions on lesser charges could stand even if the state attribution narrows. Until the verdict is final, the Foreign Office can act on the findings but cannot treat them as settled law, despite Volker Beck's demand to expel the Iranian ambassador.

4 sources

German court jails two men over alleged Iran-backed assassination plot - TimesLIVE
Prozess: Gefängnis für geheimdienstliche Tätigkeit im Auftrag Irans - Rhein-Zeitung (dpa)
German court jails two men over spying for Irans Guards - Shabtab News
German court jails two men over spying for Iran's Guards - Iran International