The case of the attempted attack against the Iranian People's Mujahideen heard in Antwerp
(B2) Suspected actors in an attempted bomb attack against the Iranian People's Mojahedin at a conference in Villepinte (near Paris) on June 30 have been placed under arrest warrant and charged with attempted of terrorist assassination in Belgium... and not in France
The Iranian People's Mujahideen (PMOI) or Mujaheddin-e-Khalq (MEK) is one of the organizations most fiercely opposed to the Islamic power in Tehran.
An attack plan with serious potential consequences
The case involves several people, including an Iranian diplomat, arrested in Belgium and France, who had prepared a plan to plant a pipe bomb “in Villepinte (France) during a conference organized by the Iranian People's Mojahedin on June 30, 2018 ". An attack which, if it had not been thwarted, could have caused significant victims given the expected audience (25.000 people) at this biannual meeting, like the invited personalities, in particular the former mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani, an ardent advocate of regime change in Iran.
Iranian diplomat transferred to Belgium
As part of a terrorism case opened by the Belgian federal prosecutor's office, the German authorities handed over, on Tuesday (October 9th), Assadollah Assadi to the Belgian judicial authorities. The investigating judge had requested his surrender within the framework of a " attempted terrorist attack “, with the project of planting a bomb” on June 30, 2018 in Villepinte (France) on June 30, 2018 during a conference organized by the Iranian People's Mojahedin (MEK) “, indicates the Belgian federal prosecutor’s office.
No diplomatic immunity
Of Iranian nationality, the diplomat accredited to the Iranian embassy in Vienna, Austria, is presumed to be the 'brain' of this attempt. He could not then avail himself of his diplomatic immunity in Germany because " he was on vacation for several days outside the State of residence — Austria — and was not traveling between his host country and his country of origin (or vice versa) “, indicates the regional court of Bamberg in a communicated. He was heard and placed under arrest warrant by the Antwerp investigating judge specializing in terrorism on Wednesday (October 10) by the investigating judge.
A planned bomb attack in Villepinte
He had been arrested in Bavaria on Saturday June 30 almost simultaneously with the arrest by the special units of the federal police in Woluwe-Saint-Lambert (Brussels) of a couple: Amir S. (an Iranian born on April 26, 1980 ) and his wife Nasimeh N. (born September 20, 1984) who resided in Belgium. Inside their Mercedes vehicle, 500 grams of TATP type explosive and a detonator were discovered. This explosive was, to all appearance, " used in a bomb attack on June 30, 2018 in Villepinte (France) during a conference organized by the Iranian People's Mojahedin (MEK) “, indicates the Belgian federal prosecutor’s office. A suspected accomplice, Merhad A. (born July 31, 1963), has already been handed over by France.
European discretion
It should be noted that the European authorities have remained very discreet about this planned attack, avoiding condemning too publicly, no doubt in view of the responsibility of the High Representative of the EU to conduct negotiations with Tehran on the follow-up of the Iran Nuclear Agreement (JCPOA).
(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)
Download press releases from the Belgian Federal Prosecutor's Office July 2 and 10th October, 2018
