German media has released new details about the killing of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) operative Ramin Yektaparast, who reportedly was shot dead on Iranian soil, a murder attributed to Israel.
According to reports, the 36-year-old was involved in planning attacks against Jewish and Israeli institutions in Germany in 2022. He is suspected of planning the arson attack on a synagogue in Bochum, shooting at a local bar, and targeting three other synagogues in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Saxony-Anhalt.
Yektaparast, who has both German and Iranian citizenship, fled Germany to evade punishment for planning these attacks. In December 2023, a court in Düsseldorf sentenced him to two years and nine months in prison. According to the indictment against him, he was suspected of belonging to an Iranian terrorist cell, operating under the command of the IRGC.
Born in Mannschaftelbach, Yektaparast was a member of motorcycle gangs in western Germany from a young age. Initially associated with the rocker gang "Bandidos," he later joined the notorious Hells Angels motorcycle gang . According to reports in "Bild" and "Der Spiegel," he began his career with petty crimes, but as a member of the "Hells Angels" in Mannschaftelbach, he became the prime suspect in the murder of Kai M., a gang member accused of spying for another gang and serving as an informant for the police.
Suspicions arose against Yektaparast after Kai was shot and his body was found dismembered. The suspicion was bolstered by a tattoo found on his body, a mark only given by the gang to those who had killed someone else. When Kai's body was discovered in a barrel in a canal in Duisburg, evidence pointed to Yektaparast.
In recent years, Yektaparast's photos with luxury cars in Germany have been replaced with pictures alongside senior IRGC members in Iran. He has often stated feeling completely safe in Iran compared to the persecution he faced in his homeland, Germany.
Iranian news agency "Tasnim" denied that Yektaparast was assassinated by Israel, claiming instead that he was killed in a personal dispute. According to "Der Spiegel," German authorities are aware of reports regarding Ramin's brutal death and have initiated an investigation to verify the details.