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Tehran Cross with Western Media for Underlining Munich Attacker’s Iranian Origins | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Special force police officers stand guard at an entrance of the main train station, following a shooting rampage at the Olympia shopping mall in Munich. Reuters/Michael Dalder


Tehran Cross with Western Media for Underlining Munich Attacker’s Iranian Origins

by | Jul 25, 2016 | World |

Tehran Cross with Western Media for Underlining Munich Attacker’s Iranian Origins

London- Iran’s Foreign Ministry on Sunday considered that Arab media circulating the information concerning the dual German-Iranian national, who is the perpetrator of the recent Munich shooting, is based on false allegations as an attempt to mar Iran’s reputation.

Arab media had cited data disclosed by German officials like Germany’s Minister of Interior, the Public Prosecutor and the official Police Spokesperson.

Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi on Saturday night criticized intentional media hype after reports that the 18-year-old shooter in the Munich massacre was a German-Iranian, saying what Iran knows is that the assailant was a German national and had been born in Munich.

Qassemi said the Foreign Ministry has no definite information about the case yet, adding that the Iranian diplomatic missions in Germany and the consulate in Berlin have been tasked with studying the case and reporting back to Tehran.

Reports circulated by some regional media outlets which claim that the Munich shooter had been Iranian, were considered a form of “psychological war,” by Qassemi.

The Munich shooting attacker has been identified by German police as Ali David Sonboly. He launched the killing spree in the Bavarian city in an apparent revenge attack for being bullied.

The young man killed 9 people and injured 27 others with a pistol before committing suicide.

Over the last two days harsh criticisms were directed against European media by Iranians for mentioning the identity of the Munich shooting attacker, accusing them of relating Iran with terrorist attacks.

During the last week, intelligence accused a suspect of Pakistani origin for spying for Iranian intelligence. The suspect has been convicted and sentenced to two years and four months for spying on the Europe-based Iranian regime opposition.

Moreover, the judiciary of Germany had issued a verdict against a German-Iranian dual national for affiliation to ISIS and committing war crimes in Syria. Public prosecution had based the sentence on footage of the convict in 2014, posing near two decapitated heads.