By Published On: November 29, 2020Categories: Assadollah Assadi, MEK (PMOI) IN MEDIA
Trial of Iranian Diplomat on Terror

If the explosion had been successful, not only would it have killed the Iranian resistance, (NCRI) and (PMOI / MEK Iran) movement’s most prominent leader, Maryam Rajavi, it could have killed and maimed many hundreds of others in attendance at the Free Iran Rally, including quite a number of foreign politicians.

The four people charged with an attempt to bomb an Iranian opposition, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI / MEK Iran), and the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), rally near Paris in June 2018 are now facing trial in Antwerp, Belgium. The four defendants include an Iranian diplomat who was based in the Iranian Embassy in Vienna. The diplomat is Assadollah Assadi, who is the first diplomat to be tried in a European court. If he is found guilty, he could be sentenced to life imprisonment in a Belgian prison.

The trial has come at a sensitive time for the Iranian regime as it attempts to reset the dial with the incoming Biden administration in the U.S. Biden was the vice president when President Obama helped to renegotiate the nuclear deal with Iran which President Donald Trump tore up. All the evidence so far points to the regime’s involvement in the bungled bomb attack on their most important adversaries. If the explosion had been successful, not only would it have killed the Iranian resistance, (NCRI) and (PMOI / MEK Iran) movement’s most prominent leader, Maryam Rajavi, it could have killed and maimed many hundreds of others in attendance at the Free Iran Rally, including quite a number of foreign politicians.

Assadi is alleged to have brought explosives into Europe in his diplomatic bag from Tehran and given it to a couple who had joint Belgian / Iranian nationality. The couple was apprehended in Belgium, while Assadi was arrested in Germany soon after.

France has accused the Iranian government, specifically the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) of being behind the plot. The Iranian regime has vociferously denied any connection with the bomb attempt as has Assadi himself.

The rally had been organized by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), an umbrella group including the People’s Mojahedin of Iran or MEK. The rally had been an annual affair, but this year was planned to be held at Villepinte, near Paris. U.S., British, European, and other politicians and former leaders attended the rally.

The Belgian / Iranian couple was arrested driving on their way to the rally from Antwerp carrying 500g of explosives and a detonator. Assadi had brought the explosives in from Iran on a standard commercial flight but concealed in his diplomatic bag which wouldn’t have been screened by security at either airport.

The fourth person being tried was an Iranian poet, 57-year-old Mehrdad Arefani, who was arrested in France after the arrest of the other three. Assadi was arrested in Germany while out of Austria on a supposed holiday. He didn’t have diplomatic immunity in Germany.

It has been alleged that the attack had been planned to kill as many people as possible who were members of the Iranian resistance movement attending the rally. The MEK, the main component of the NCRI, was presumably the main target. The MEK was first established in 1965 and was an important factor in the Iranian Revolution of 1979 which deposed the Shah, but installed the mullahs instead, led by Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khomeini.

The MEK was first established in 1965 and was an important factor in the Iranian Revolution of 1979 which deposed the Shah, but installed the mullahs instead, led by Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khomeini.

The MEK was banned by Khomeini and the struggle between the MEK and the regime led to mass executions and the MEK’s exile to Iraq. After the end of the Iran / Iraq war and the demise of Saddam Hussein, the MEK found refuge in Albania, which is still their main base.

The MEK lost its “terrorism” status in 2009 (Europe) and then2012 (U.S.) after information it provided about Iran’s nuclear intentions led to a scramble to impose sanctions on the regime. The MEK has since presented itself as a secular, democratic alternative to the current theocratic Iranian regime.

According to Reuters, Assadi was recorded by Belgian police as warning them of “possible retaliation by unidentified groups if he is found guilty.” This report was rejected by the Iranian Foreign Ministry. The spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry, Saeed Khatibzadeh, said that the arrest of Assadi was “a move that is basically unlawful and in blatant violation of international practices and the contents of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations”.

It is unlikely that a verdict in the trials will be made until early next year.

An abridged version of an article written by Jan van der for News Media RFI.

MEK Iran (follow them on Twitter and Facebook)

and People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran – MEK IRAN – YouTube

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