Belgium state security revealed that long term Belgium residents originating from Iran in their capacity as spies were responsible for an Iranian backed attempted bombing of the MEK event in 2018. This is an abridged account leading up to the events that happened in June 2018.
Brussels, 25th June 2018 at the Brussels Federal Judicial Police headquarters
Message received from the State Security Service that stated that from a tip off received from an overseas security service allegedly American and Israeli that an attack by Belgians was just about to take place.
Although European authorities have long been alert to potential terrorist activities by (non-state) jihadi groups, mostly Sunnis, they may soon be forced to take more attention to state-sponsored terrorist activities by Iran’s ruling theocratic regime. https://t.co/QbFJvDfcGz
— StopFundamentalism (@SFundamentalism) November 23, 2020
Luxembourg City 25th June 2018, at Terrace Pizza Hut
Two people, Amir S. and Nasimeh N., are seen with Daniel who passes to them a package and a cell phone with an Austrian SIM card and 22,000 Euros in an envelope. SMS messaging revealed that the couple was aware that a bomb was inside the package.
25th June in Luxembourg
Daniel’s’ car is subjected to a routine search.
At this point, it was clear that the three were under surveillance by security services.
The spotlight will soon be on a trial in Belgium of an Iranian diplomat and three other Iranians accused of planning and organizing a bomb attack on a rally near Paris in June 2018.#MEK #Iran https://t.co/0yNucshHMR pic.twitter.com/J24WsMzano
— MEK Iran (Mujahedin-e Khalq) (@MEK_Iran) November 23, 2020
30th June St. Peters-Woluwe, Hinnisdaallaan 61
The belgian-Iranian couple drives a new dark blue Mercedes CLC along the A12 to Villepinte, just outside Paris. At the time one SMS message said the following: “We are going to win the cup. Everything’s taken care of. Your team will win, Inch Allah.”
It was alleged that the couple who lived in Wilrijk on the Boomsesteenweg pretending they had supported the Iranian opposition for many years and Amir had been living in the country since 2003 and worked previously as is a dockworker and warehouse worker.
On the day of the MEK gathering in Villepinte, this couple had signed on as employees at the event so they possessed a staff pass meaning that they were not subjected to security checks.
Joseph and Torricelli used their affidavits to show their support for the #NCRI the main target of the bomb plot. they are still shocked that the terror attack could have potentially killed so many people on European soil. #mek https://t.co/hK58AFWSWj #iRAN pic.twitter.com/vwPCJjF3gX
— MEK Iran (Mujahedin-e Khalq) (@MEK_Iran) November 23, 2020
A special police unit DSU reported at one point that the Mercedes was being driven erratically, including speeding up to 180 km/h followed by slowing down. All of a sudden at a traffic jam it decides to take the route to Brussels instead.
St. Peters-Woluwe, at 12.30 pm
The couple was apprehended by security forces and the demining service DOVO when searching the car finds a suitcase containing a 500-gram bomb in a toiletry bag made up of highly explosive TATP. An x-ray reveals the explosive with a wireless detonator. DOVO decides to defuse the bomb which caused a small explosion injuring an officer who was 100 meters away. Contained in Dovo’s report were a description of a unique 3D-printed piece and a wireless ignition mechanism. The bomb itself can be operated using a secure firing button up to several hundred meters away. DOVO also found the 22,000 Euros of cash.
Germany 28th June 2018 south motorway car park near Frankfurt
The person who had been called “Daniel” was found to be an Iranian diplomat stationed at Vienna’s Iranian embassy called Assadollah Assadi. He was stopped by security officials at a motorway restaurant not far from Frankfurt with his wife and two nearly adult sons.
Evidence revealed
- The car Assadi was driving was a rented red Ford S-MAX and in it was a notebook with Persian instructions explaining how to use the bomb. There was a code for its use which was “Playstation 4” It was also discovered that the Belgium couple had unexplained amounts of money in their bank accounts of 100,000 euros.
- There was other information received which included that the 3 had met often and in many places throughout Europe including the cities of Vienna, Salzburg, Munich, Milan, Venice and even in Tehran. Throughout this event Assadi has used his diplomatic status to evade questioning. However, he did say that if convicted “that armed groups are ready to intervene if he is convicted”.
- One of the suspects said a bomb of its type had already been tested in Iran and Assadi had embarked on numerous trips to Iran between 2015 and 2018.
- It has also been revealed that Nasimeh led the couple’s actions.
- Another bit of information claimed that Assadi had hired a car in 2017 just before the commencement of the 2017 mass gathering of the Iranian opposition. This was exactly 12 months before the 2018 foiled attack. The GPS in the car revealed the route taken by the vehicle in 2017 went to the hotel accommodating the VIPs attending the event.
- Emails of the 3 uncovered the wording “I’ve been living with these cooks for 30 years” (translated freely: I’ve been hunting those bastards of the Iranian opposition for 30 years).
- Nasimeh was given Iranian refugee status in 2010 but despite that she traveled 13 times to and from Iran between 2010 and 2018. Her passport had not been stamped for those trips. Cash of 35,000 Euros was discovered in Nasimeh and Amir’s home. Also between 2011 and 2018 106,496 Euros was deposited into Nasimeh’s account.
State security services summary
State security has confirmed that three people were involved in the aborted bomb attack. Assadi is a spy and a diplomat at the Iranian Embassy and he also worked for the Iranian branch of the MOIS which is the main Iranian intelligence service operating both inside and outside Iran.
Before his appointment in Vienna, Assadi was based in the Iranian Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq.
The international media has widely covered the Iranian Resistance’s, #NCRI and #MEK #Iran, activities, the trial of the #Iranian regime’s terrorist diplomat Asadollah Assadi is due to start in Belgium this week. https://t.co/9bzbthptmX
— StopFundamentalism (@SFundamentalism) November 24, 2020
Trial to start this Friday in Antwerp
When the trial begins Washington, Tel Aviv, Paris and many European capitals will be looking on with caution and if the assailants are convicted Iran is likely to be confronted with international sanctions. This makes the whole situation difficult in Iran as it grapples with the fallout from Jo Biden’s election win where it hopes to rekindle an agreement on its nuclear activities.
