German-Iranian Man Accused of Tehran-Guided Arson Attempt on Synagogue

German prosecutors have charged a German-Iranian dual national for an attempted arson attack on a school adjoining a synagogue.

The man, identified as Babak J., was instructed by an intermediary "acting on behalf of unknown Iranian state agencies" in November 2022 to carry out an arson attack on a synagogue in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, the federal prosecutor's office said in a statement.

Subsequently, the suspect sought to convince an acquaintance to set fire to a synagogue in Dortmund using a Molotov cocktail but that person refused, the statement said.

According to the statement, Babak J.'s handler later named another synagogue -- in the in western city of Bochum -- as a target.

"The accused refrained from attacking the well-monitored synagogue in Bochum itself for fear of discovery," it said.

Instead, the suspect tried to set fire to a school building next to the synagogue.

Babak J. has been in custody since November 2022, and the federal prosecutor took over the investigation the following month. The suspect was charged with "attempted incitement to serious arson" and "attempted arson."

Germany has seen a series of anti-Semitic incidents attributed to the far-right scene in recent years.

In 2019, a gunman killed two people in the eastern city of Halle after failing to storm a synagogue.