Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) disclosed on Saturday that it has been holding German citizen Marek Kaufmann for more than a year, accusing him of photographing and mapping sensitive military and nuclear installations close to the Arak heavy-water reactor in Markazi Province, state-run Mehr News Agency said.
Mehr released a four-minute video that shows a bearded young man in cycling gear identifying himself as Kaufmann. In the heavily spliced footage the German tells interrogators, “I knew this was a military area and that filming was not allowed … I sent my location to a friend,” according to UK-based anti-regime outlet Iran International, which reviewed the clip.
A narrator then claimed Kaufmann’s Garmin smartwatch was “guided by American and Jewish commanders” who allegedly directed him to record missile silos and drone corridors. No evidence for the claim is presented in the video, and the narrator, Ameneh Sadat Zabihpour, is herself under US sanctions for producing forced confessions, Iran International noted.
Where and when he was seized
The semiofficial Mehr report did not specify the date of arrest, but the German news agency dpa and Deutsche Welle both quoted Iranian officials as saying the cyclist was picked up “last year” on a provincial road marked with military warning signs near Arak. According to the reports, he is now being held in Tehran’s Evin Prison, the same high-security facility that houses most foreign and dual-national detainees, DW added.
A spokesperson for the German Foreign Office told German broadcaster ARD that Berlin has “temporarily relocated” its embassy staff out of Tehran because of the Israel–Iran war and would not comment on the detainee’s case for privacy reasons. German consular matters in Iran are handled by the Swiss Embassy, which has yet to confirm whether it has been granted access to Kaufmann.
European diplomats contend that Tehran publicised the German’s arrest now to dissuade Berlin from supporting any joint Israeli-US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites. The Economic Times quoted an unnamed German official as saying embassy staff were moved abroad “due to the current threat situation.
What the IRGC claims
According to the Mehr broadcast, IRGC intelligence personnel intercepted Kaufmann after drones monitoring the area picked up “suspicious movement.” Investigators allege he stored images of missile launchers and the Arak reactor on memory cards hidden in his bicycle frame. Iranian authorities further claimed he “transmitted GPS coordinates to handlers abroad,” Mehr said, without providing corroboration.
The disclosure comes as Israel continues precision strikes on Iranian nuclear infrastructure and US President Donald Trump weighs joining the campaign. The IRGC appears eager to acquire bargaining chips before any wider Western involvement.