Iran diplomat on trial for terror had Europe-wide network - report
Austria’s political leaders faced criticism for welcoming Iranian President Hasan Rouhani to Vienna three days after the arrest of Iranian diplomat Assadollah Assadi.
By BENJAMIN WEINTHALIranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif shakes hands with High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of European Commission Josep Borrell in Tehran, Iran, February 3, 2020(photo credit: TASNIM NEWS AGENCY/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS)
Ahead of Thursday’s verdict in the trial for the Iranian regime diplomat Assadollah Assadi’s alleged plot to blow up a dissident conference in France, the British Daily Express reported that he crisscrossed European countries as part of a widespread Islamic Republic network.“A green notebook, found in Assadollah Assadi’s car when he was arrested in Germany, meticulously detailed 289 places across 11 European countries where he is believed to have made contact with agents of the regime,” reported Express defense and diplomatic editor Marco Giannangeli on Sunday.“Though ostensibly a diplomat based at Iran’s Viennese embassy, only 38 were in Austria, barely 13% of the total. Germany featured most heavily, with 114 locations, followed by 42 locations in France,” wrote Giannangeli.He added that “other countries he visited include Italy, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and Luxembourg.”The article was titled “Iranian spy chief behind bomb plot in Paris ‘had contacts all over Europe.’”According to the British paper, “In reality, he was Europe bureau chief for the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security.”The conference in France was attended by high-profile politicians and diplomats, including former president Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and former US speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, as well as 38 British MPs and former Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper.The article stated that “Assadi’s green notebook shows the true extent of his European connections. Of the 289 locations meticulously listed, 86 were landscapes and various visiting sites, 53 were stores, 45 were restaurants and 23 were hotels.”Assadi recruited agents to bomb a conference in Paris, but Belgium police apprehended them before the attack. Assadi ostensibly recruited a Belgian couple of Iranian origin to plant explosives at the 25,000-person gathering. Belgian police arrested the couple with 500 gr. of TATP high explosive and a detonator.Austria’s political leaders faced criticism for welcoming Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to Vienna three days after the arrest of Assadi.
