The Iranian Foreign Ministry, terrified over the likely sentencing of diplomat Assadollah Assadi next week, is trying hard to push conspiracy theories that they hope will discredit the Belgian court’s verdict.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Saied Khatibzadeh said Sunday: “This is a complicated trap set up using the MEK [People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran] for this Iranian diplomat.”
As always, there was no evidence or even an explanation about how this “trap” was supposed to have worked.
Assadi was arrested in July 2018 in Germany for attempting to blow up an MEK rally in France days earlier. According to the prosecutors, he had smuggled 500 grams of highly explosive TATP the explosives from Iran to Austria, where he was stationed at the embassy in Vienna, in his diplomatic luggage. He then drove to Luxembourg to personally hand the bomb off to two of his underlings -Nasimeh Na’ami and Amir Saadoun – with detailed instructions about what they were supposed to do, which was place the bomb as near to opposition leader Maryam Rajavi as they could.
Evidence cited in the trial included, a notebook found in Assadi’s car that identified him as the commanders of this operation, bank transfers, and the words of his hired terrorists.
Assadi has not provided a defense, claiming diplomatic immunity, even though that doesn’t apply outside of Austria.
Khatibzadeh, who feared the trial of a diplomat for terrorism could “set a dangerous precedent”, said Assadi was being “jailed in inhumane conditions” with “limited access to his lawyer and telephone to contact his family”.
Now, Iran is the top executioner per capita in the world, has extra judicially killed thousands of dissidents, and deprives prisoners of their basic rights. They also planned a terror attack to kill thousands in the heart of Europe. Quite how they can make these claims about a European prison with a straight face is beyond comprehension.
The Iranian Resistance wrote: “Today, the European Union’s Foreign Ministers hold their meeting. Assadi’s case and his trial is a momentum which they could use to put an end to the Iranian regime’s unbridled terrorism in Europe. The EU leaders should shut down the regime’s embassies throughout Europe and expel the mullahs’ agents. Zarif, along with other regime officials should be blacklisted for their role in terrorism. Adopting such a firm policy will certainly set a precedent and prevent the regime from spreading more chaos across the globe.”
