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Prosecutors: Iranian diplomat Assadollah Assadi handed over a bomb package,"to plant it at a mass rally near Paris two days later attended by tens of thousands of opponents of Iran’s theocratic regime & by prominent British & American politicians." #Iran #Terrorism @statedeptspox https://twitter.com/thesundaytimes/status/1327723513113931783
"This was no casual encounter, as the plainclothes officers watching them knew. The diplomat, Assadollah Assadi, 48, is thought to be a member of Iran’s intelligence service, and the package allegedly contained a powerful bomb," according to The Sunday Times. 2/
The suspected Pizza Hut plot, which would have caused a mass loss of life if succeeded, was thwarted in an operation involving Belgian, French German police. Next week, after a 2yr investigation, the 3 suspects, together with a 4th man, are due to go on trial in Antwerp. 3/
"Belgian investigators are convinced their actions were approved at the highest level in Tehran, which would make their conviction a serious embarrassment for the Iranians." writes @TheSundayTimes 4/
“The plan for the attack was conceived in the name of Iran & under its leadership. It was not a matter of Assadi’s personal initiative,” wrote Jaak Raes, head of the VSSE, Belgium’s state security service, revealing in extraordinary detail the planning that went into the plot.5/
Assadi, a third counsellor at Iran’s embassy in Vienna, is an officer of its intelligence & security ministry-serving in the internal security directorate, considered a terrorist organisation by the European Union-and was the “operational commander” of the mission,asserts Raes.6/
"The operation’s primary target appears to have been Maryam Rajavi, head of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), a coalition of opposition groups, which was due to hold its annual rally on June 30, 2018." 7/
Several prominent British critics of the Iranian regime also attended the meeting, among them Theresa Villiers, the former environment secretary. 8/
“If the defendants are convicted in this case, this must be a wake-up call for the international community to put more pressure on the tyrannical Iranian regime to end its destabilising support for terrorist groups around the world,” Villiers said. 9/
"The NCRI, which has powerful backers abroad…has long been a thorn in the side of Iran’s rulers. In 2002 it revealed the existence of nuclear testing facilities that led to Tehran being declared in breach of a non-proliferation treaty." 10/
The plot to target it appears to have been hatched after popular protests that erupted in December 2017 in more than 100 Iranian cities and were blamed by Ali Khamenei, the country’s supreme leader, on “enemies of the republic”. 11/
In a speech the following month he claimed the streets were under the control of the People’s Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (MEK), the main element in the NCRI, and threatened “retribution”. 12/
"Assadi, who had previously served in Iraq and was familiar with explosives, was ordered to carry out the Paris operation shortly afterwards, investigators believe." 13/
Travel records show he made several trips from Austria to Iran during the first months of 2018, apparently in connection with its planning. He then allegedly recruited Saadouni and Naami to plant the bomb. 14/
The pair were arrested on the day of the planned attack in Woluwe-Saint-Pierre, in the east of Brussels. Their luggage was found to contain the explosive, which was “wrapped in plastic and concealed in the lining of a toiletry bag” and was primed to go off. 15/
Assadi was arrested on July 1 in Germany, as he was driving towards Austria, where he would have enjoyed diplomatic immunity. Despite Iranian protests, he was later extradited to Belgium.
A red notebook containing instructions to the bombers was found in Assadi’s car. 16/
A red notebook containing instructions to the bombers was found in Assadi’s car. 16/
These included how to activate and detonate the bomb, and how the couple should behave after the attack. They were told not to travel by plane for several months, and to stop using old email addresses and set up new ones. 17/
During questioning in March, Assadi told Belgian police that armed groups in Iraq, Lebanon,Yemen & Syria,as well as in Iran, were interested in the outcome of his case & would be “watching from the sidelines to see if Belgium would support them or not”, according to documents.18/
Asked about Assadi’s comments, a spokesman for the Belgian federal prosecutor said: “Such threats can occur, but we always take the necessary security measures.” https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/world/a-hellish-pizza-hut-delivery-irans-bomb-to-take-out-foes-in-paris-9067nb66k?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1605379696 19/
