A Belgian federal court is set to announce a verdict and sentence in the terrorism trial of Iranian diplomat Assadollah Assadi and his three accomplices on Thursday. They are charged with attempting to blow up a 2018 opposition, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), and the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI / MEK Iran) rally in France, but Belgian prosecutors say that Assadi was working on behalf of the highest levels of the Iranian regime.
Ahead of the announcement, many European lawmakers have called for changes in Western policy towards Iran. In one case, 40 members of the European Council’s Parliamentary Assembly wrote a letter to the body’s president Rik Daems. In another, the International Committee in Search of Justice (ISJ) sent letters to several leading European Union figures signed by over 20 politicians and former officials from the EU.
(#PMOI/#MEK #Iran): A statement released by twenty former European Ministers in relation to this event was aimed at encouraging Europe to issue a firm stance against terrorist activities organized by the Iranian regime. https://t.co/fthIfk42Wy #WeStand4FreeIran pic.twitter.com/o8h1YsbbYc
— MEK Iran (Mujahedin-e Khalq) (@MEK_Iran) February 2, 2021
There were many similarities in these statements as both criticized the current policy of “appeasement”, which they said emboldened the regime in both domestic repression and foreign terrorism. These two malign actions, mostly utilized against pro-democracy activists, are often described as the dual pillars of the regime’s power structure.
In fact, this appeasement may be what the regime is exploiting in order to carry out terror attacks, according to the Resistance, who advised that Assadi’s diplomatic status allowed him to sneak the bomb into Europe and allowed the regime to think that he would be immune from consequences.
The Resistance wrote: “The goal of that operation was to kill Maryam Rajavi, the president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), and to disrupt the rally at which she was scheduled to deliver the keynote address.”
Why? Well because of the December 2017 uprising that was organized by the Resistance and shook the regime to its core. The uprising was put down, with dozens of protesters shot dead and thousands arrested, but Rajavi then called for a year full of uprisings.
The Resistance wrote: “The threat to the Iranian regime’s leadership was evidently so severe that the authorities were willing to sign off on a plan that came with its own threats, namely the risk of exposing Iranian sleeper cells in Europe and terrorist elements within Iranian embassies, as well as the risk of starting an international incident by killing European citizens on Western soil.”
The ISJ urged Europe to make their relations with Iran conditional on an end to terrorism in Europe, the closing of Iranian embassies, and the expulsion of its agents. This will weaken the regime and make way for democracy.
40 European MPs (PACE) call on @eucopresident @JosepBorrellF & @PACE_News for revision of #Iran policy, effective measures to counter Iran’s repression & terrorism.
They urged Europe to hold mullahs' FM Zarif accountable for his diplomat’s terrorist act.https://t.co/aM5YcgEWv8
— International Committee in Search of Justice (ISJ) (@isjcommittee) February 2, 2021
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and People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran – MEK IRAN – YouTube
