Oct 31, 2018

Uncertainty is clouding Iran-EU ties after Danish officials leveled accusations that an Iranian intelligence organization was behind an attempted assassination in Denmark. Iran's diplomatic apparatus has been busy reacting to statements from the Danish Security and Intelligence Service and the country's Foreign Ministry.

"With those suspicious allegations some are seeking to undermine relations between Iran and Europe," said Mahmoud Vaezi, the influential chief of staff for Iran's President Hassan Rouhani. Vaezi underlined the timing of the claims that came "on the eve of new US sanctions against Iran." He also told reporters following a Nov. 1 cabinet meeting in Tehran that Rouhani had ordered the authorities to get to the bottom of the matter.

Ahead of the sanctions targeting Iran's oil and banking sectors taking effect Nov. 4, Iran has been intensively negotiating with Europeans for a new mechanism to mitigate the impacts of the measures, which have already spread panic over soaring prices among ordinary Iranians.

In a tit-for-tat move, Iran's Foreign Ministry summoned the Danish ambassador to convey Tehran's "strongest protest against hasty reactions by some Danish officials." The ministry's spokesman Bahram Qassemi vehemently denied the Danish allegations as "in line with conspiracies by the known enemies of the good and expanding ties between Iran and Europe" at a juncture he described as "special and critical." Qassemi also warned Denmark of consequences for the accusation and demanded "calculated and rational management of the developments."

The Danish envoy has already been recalled by his superiors in Copenhagen, a departure Qassemi said was for "consultation" in which he would "try to follow up on the expectations of the Iranian side."