“We expelled two Dutch diplomats,” Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said on March 4, accusing Holland of an “illegal expulsion of Iranian diplomats.” Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok indicated that the intelligence service of Holland had pinpointed Iran as being responsible for political killings in the Netherlands. These allegedly involved murdered in 2015 and 2017 in Holland. Now Mashregh News and Tasnim News have both published articles accusing European countries of spying on Iran.

“Spying at the highest level,” the article asserts. Tasnim then claims that the German ambassador to Iran, Michael Klor-Berchtold, is a member of the Intelligence Service of Germany, and accuses him of a relationship with Israel. “The German intelligence officer has been in charge of joint circles with the Zionist intelligence service.” The article then claims that there are more spies in the French, Australian and Danish embassies. The list goes on to name “agents” from these embassies. The article singles out French Ambassador Philippe Thiebaud and questions why a former ambassador to Pakistan and South Korea would be sent to Tehran. It claims that his role is related to knowledge of the nuclear weapons program of Pakistan and North Korea and therefore is focused on the Iranian nuclear program at the center of the current Iran-EU discussions aimed at preserving the JCPOA.

The articles seem timed to coincide with tensions that Iran has had with Germany, Holland and France over accusations last year of Iranian involvement in attacks across Europe. In January a letter signed by the foreign ministries of the UK, Netherlands, Germany, France, Belgium and Denmark raised “serious concern” regarding Iran’s role in “hostile acts on EU territory.” It is unsurprising then that Iranian media would concoct a story about many of these same countries having “spies” in Iran. The articles may be intended to build pressure on Iranian leadership regarding these EU states.