Germany’s chief of domestic intelligence agency warned Saturday that Iran is expanding its espionage efforts in Germany, switching their focus more and more toward Israeli targets.
According to Thomas Haldenwang, who spoke to local media, both Iran and China have accelerated their espionage efforts on German soil.
Haldenwang said China is primarily focused on political espionage and the recruitment of spies, while taking advantage of Germany's economic dependence on it.
Germany has been trying to reduce its economic dependencies on authoritarian regimes since the beginning of the war in Ukraine in February 2022.
On the other hand, Iranian spying attempts, which have intensified since the beginning of widespread protests against the regime in the country, primarily involve tracking Iranian refugees in Germany as well as Israeli and Jewish institutions and individuals.
"Iranian espionage agents are tracking Iranian opposition figures and activists," Haldenwang said in an interview with the Welt am Sonntag paper. "They consider the opposition a threat to the regime's existence, even outside of the country."
According to German officials, 160 German citizens with affiliations to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps have been identified so far. Most are involved in tracking Israeli and Jewish targets, including tracking pro-Israel supporters.
“China is developing wide-ranging spying and influence activities. We must be prepared for these to increase in the coming years,” the intelligence agency chief added, while emphasizing that this is the biggest security threat to the German domestic front.
Haldenwang also pointed out that in addition to China’s “long-term strategy” in Germany, domestic intelligence efforts are also focusing on Iran, Russia, and domestic terrorism.