An Iranian diplomat accused of being behind a conspiracy to blow up a Paris meeting of Iranian dissidents was sentenced on Thursday and sentenced to 20 years in prison – leaving Tehran black-eyed while seeking to foster international relations in Europe and Washington .
Assadollah Assadi, a Vienna-based diplomat who denied the charges, was convicted and sentenced for his role in planning the 2018 plot. His defense team said he would appeal. Three other defendants were also found guilty.
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The plot targeted the 2018 meeting in Paris of the National Council of Iran’s Resistance (NCRI) – an annual meeting that would see speakers, including Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani. NCRI is the main opposition to the regime in Iran and an umbrella group of Iranian resistance groups.
Prosecutors claimed that the plot originated from the highest echelons of the Iranian government. Iran has repeatedly denied responsibility for the plot.
Prosecutors identified Assadi as the alleged “operational commander” of the planned attack and accused him of recruiting a couple to deliver the bomb. Assadi is believed to have carried the explosives to Austria on a commercial flight and delivered the bomb to them in Luxembourg. The decision said the explosives were made and tested in Iran.
NCRI President-elect Maryam Rajavi told Fox News in an interview that the plot was planned and approved by officials – including supreme leader Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani – and said the trial shows what she called ” appeasement policy “had encouraged leaders.
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People protest while holding photos of Maryam Rajavi, leader of Iran’s National Resistance Council, during the trial of four people, including an Iranian diplomat and a Belgian-Iranian couple in the court of Antwerp, Belgium, Thursday, February 4, 2021. (AP Photo / Virginia Mayo)
“The message of this judgment to the world is that no degree of economic or political concessions is sufficient to change the behavior of the regime. Terrorism is part of the regime’s DNA and all its factions benefit from it. Terrorism is part of the survival of the strategic regime, “said Rajavi, who was believed to be the target of the plot.
After the verdict, Rajavi asked European countries to respond to the plot – one of several believed to have been ordered by the regime.
“The time has come for the European Union to act. Silence and inaction under any pretext will only encourage the mullah regime to continue its crimes and terrorism,” she said.
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An Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Saeed Khatibzadeh, condemned the court’s decisions and said Iran did not recognize the sentence because it considers Belgian proceedings against Assadi to be illegal. The court rejected these claims.
It remains to be seen what effect the condemnation will have on Iranian diplomatic efforts in Europe and the United States. There is hope that, with a new government in Washington, it will be able to strengthen ties with the United States and gather support for the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran.
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The Trump administration has adopted a policy of “maximum pressure” on Iran – withdrawing from the agreement and re-imposing waves of sanctions on Iran, as well as removing General Qassem Soleimani on a strike last year.
The Biden government has pledged to re-enter the 2015 agreement and Iran has expressed hope that Washington will lift sanctions imposed by the previous government.