“... The people who have been in prison so far cannot therefore be described as prisoners or detainees. "They are hostages of the regime," says Schindler, who now heads the Counter Extremism Project, a think tank that focuses on terrorism. Ultimately, the Iranians are not interested in giving the German detainees a fair trial, but rather in convicting them on flimsy evidence in order to use them as political bargaining chips. This was also the case with Helmut Hofer. "The Iranians' idea was to exchange him for the terrorist Darabi and his accomplices," says Schindler. Kazem Darabi was the mastermind behind the Mykonos attack in Berlin, in which four Kurdish politicians in exile were killed. He was sentenced to life imprisonment. Germany did not allow itself to be blackmailed by Iran.” 

CEP Senior Director Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler on the risk of terrorism in Germany as a consequence of the war against Iran. 

"The aim is to drive up the political and economic costs for the Americans and Israelis," Middle East expert Hans-Jakob Schindler, head of the Berlin-based think tank Counter Extremism Project, told our editorial team. "The Iranians hope that Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states will put pressure on the US and Israel to end the war."

On Saturday, the US and Israel began their war against Iran. One of their stated goals is to overthrow the regime in Tehran. The allies have also relied on intelligence information in this endeavor. ZDFheute spoke live with Middle East expert [CEP Senior Director] Hans-Jakob Schindler about the role intelligence agencies are playing in the preparations for military action.

Terrorism expert and CEP Senior Director Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler quoted about the situation in Iran and the terrorist threat in Germany. [At 5:12]

Security expert [CEP Senior Director] Hans Jakob Schindler warns of the possible consequences of war with Iran: unstable conditions could increase migration, raise the risk of terrorist attacks, and trigger economic shocks—with repercussions for Germany.