An Iranian opposition, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI / MEK Iran), and the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), rally in June 2018 that Rudy Giuliani attended was the target for a bomb attack that could have killed hundreds of people. The attempt was forestalled as a result of a joint anti-terror initiative by European authorities.
It has been alleged that the attack had been planned to kill as many people as possible who were members of the Iranian resistance movement attending the rally. The #MEK, the main component of the #NCRI, was presumably the main target. https://t.co/Hhzeoz0XiR pic.twitter.com/w8KjT7aMLC
— MEK Iran (Mujahedin-e Khalq) (@MEK_Iran) November 29, 2020
The trial of four Iranians, including an Iranian diplomat based in Vienna, is underway at the time of writing, although no verdict will be handed down until early next year.
Giuliani, Trump’s lawyer, was a keynote speaker at the rally, but there were around 100,000 people attending at the Villepinte, Paris location including many supporters of the Iranian opposition organization, the (PMOI / MEK Iran) and (NCRI), and foreign politicians and parliamentarians.
The main target of the failed bomb attack was the NCRI leader, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi. The NCRI is an umbrella group of Iranian opposition organizations, of which the Mujahedin-e Khalk (PMOI / MEK Iran) is the largest and most significant. The Iranian regime has long considered the MEK an enemy. Until fairly recently the MEK had been considered a terrorist group itself, but this changed in 2012 by which time both the E.U. and U.S. had removed it from its terrorist list in return for important information the group had provided about Iran’s nuclear development.
The bomb was brought to a Pizza Hut in Luxembourg where it was given to the alleged bombers who were to use it to bomb the rally in France of a key opposition, #MEK #Iran and #NCRI to the Iranian government. #WeStand4FreeIran pic.twitter.com/xwo2qBszQa
— MEK Iran (Mujahedin-e Khalq) (@MEK_Iran) November 29, 2020
The bomb attack, according to the MEK, had been planned and organized by the regime in Tehran. Assadollah Assadi, the Iranian diplomat is alleged to have carried the explosive to be used in the bomb in a diplomatic bag from Tehran and then carried it to Luxembourg where he met with the couple who were to plant the bomb at the rally. The Pizza Hut restaurant where the explosives were allegedly handed over was apparently being watched by a plainclothes Belgian policeman.
The couple, of Iranian – Belgian nationality, was arrested in Belgium on their way to Paris where it is alleged they were intending to plant the explosives with a detonator. The couple has denied involvement and has said that they thought the package they were carrying only contained ‘fireworks.’ It is not known what they thought the detonator and instructions for wiring up the bomb, found in their Mercedes car on arrest were intended for.
#MEK #Iran: Assadollah Assadi’s Terrorism Trial Begins https://t.co/5jUi6p3JtC #ShutDownIranTerrorEmbassies #IWasATarget
— MEK Iran (Mujahedin-e Khalq) (@MEK_Iran) November 28, 2020
Assadi is alleged to have paid the couple $14,000 to carry out the attack. Another person involved in the attempt was another Iranian Belgian national, a poet.
Assadi has claimed diplomatic immunity and has refused to attend the trial in Antwerp, but Belgian authorities believe that because e was arrested in Germany, his immunity does not cover him as it is confined to Austria where he had diplomatic credentials.
The Belgian authorities believe that Assadi was carrying out orders from a branch of the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS), Department 312, which is on the European Union’s list of terrorist organizations.
Assadi and the Iranian regime have denied any involvement in the bungled bomb plot.
An abridged version of an article written by Naina Bhardwaj for Business Insider.
and People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran – MEK IRAN – YouTube
