German police have arrested a 32-year-old Iranian on suspicion of planning a terrorist attack using deadly chemicals.
Police and prosecutors said the man and another person were arrested overnight in the town of Castrop-Rauxel, northwest of Dortmund.
The joint statement said the man is suspected of planning a serious terrorist attack, for which he allegedly tried to obtain the potent toxins cyanide and ricin.
Specialists in hazmat suits were seen removing evidence from the man’s home.
A spokesman for the Düsseldorf prosecutor’s office later said that the initial search of the premises did not reveal any toxic substances, according to Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa).
It was not immediately clear how far the attack plans had progressed, or whether the suspect had chosen a specific target.
Dpa quotes a senior North Rhine-Westphalia security official, Herbert Reul, as saying authorities received “a serious signal that prompted the police to intervene that same night.”
The tabloid newspaper Bild reported that information about the alleged plot came from Allied intelligence.
Dpa quoted an unnamed German security official as saying there was no indication that the suspect was acting on behalf of the Iranian state, but rather that he was allegedly a terrorist group.
Five years ago, German police arrested a Tunisian and his wife on suspicion of planning a ricin attack on behalf of the Daesh terrorist group.
They were later found guilty and sentenced to 10 and 8 years in prison respectively.
Even small amounts of castor bean seed ricin can kill an adult when eaten, injected, or inhaled.
