Detained Iranian diplomat to stand trial in Belgium

A court in Belgium ruled on Wednesday, July 16, that the trial of an Islamic Republic diplomat and three others suspected of plotting to bomb a conference of the People's Mojahedin Organization in Paris two years ago will be held in the coming months.

Asadollah Asadi, an Islamic Republic diplomat in Austria, is one of these four suspects.

Eric Van der Sypt, a spokesman for the Belgian Attorney General's Office, announced on Wednesday that the four suspects were charged with "conducting a murder plan of a terrorist nature" and "participating in the actions of a terrorist organization."

In July 2018, four people were arrested in Germany and Belgium and charged with attempting to bomb a conference of the People's Mojahedin in Paris.

First, Belgian authorities announced the arrest of an Iranian-American couple in a car carrying explosives, and then the media reported the arrest of two other people in connection with the case.

Asadollah Asadi, the third secretary of the Iranian embassy in Austria, was arrested while traveling to Germany. According to the National Council of Resistance, he had given the bomb plan and explosives to the arrested couple.

The French Foreign Ministry also explicitly implicated the Islamic Republic's intelligence agencies in this incident and sanctioned two institutions, a move that was welcomed by the European Union.

The Islamic Republic has denied involvement in the matter, and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted that the coincidence of the arrests with Hassan Rouhani's trip to Europe was "surprising."

According to the ruling issued on Wednesday, the trial of the four suspects will take place in the final months of this year in the port city of Antwerp.

Source: Radio Farda