Iraj Mesdaghi: Conviction of Assadollah Assadi is a Beginning for Prosecution of Islamic Republic Officials

Iraj Mesdaghi, former political prisoner and human rights activist, believes that the conviction of Assadollah Assadi, a diplomat of the Islamic Republic, will be a beginning for the prosecution of other Islamic Republic officials.

Mr. Mesdaghi, who has been following Assadi’s arrest since it occurred and providing information about it, said in an interview with Voice of America that although this is the first time an Islamic Republic official has been tried despite having diplomatic immunity, “it sends a very clear message to the officials of the Islamic system that they cannot freely carry out assassinations and sabotage operations in Europe and remain immune from the consequences.”

Mr. Mesdaghi, referring to the arrest of Hamid Noori on charges of participation in the massacre of political prisoners in 1987 and his imminent trial in Sweden, considers Assadollah Assadi’s conviction as “a vanguard for other courts: “Certainly, other regime officials will also be brought to trial.”

A court in Belgium convicted Assadollah Assadi, a diplomat of the Islamic Republic, of conspiracy to carry out a bombing and sentenced him to 20 years in prison. This is the first time a diplomat of the Iranian regime has been convicted in connection with terrorism-related charges in Europe.

Maryam Rajavi, President of the National Council of Resistance, the political branch of the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization, in response to the conviction of Assadollah Assadi, diplomat of the Islamic Republic, said that “the entire clerical government has been involved in terrorism and this terrorist plot” and “this is a heavy political and diplomatic defeat for the clerical regime.”

Source: Voice of America