Verdict In Bomb Plot Trial Of Iranian Diplomat

Muhammad Irfan Published February 04, 2021 | 08:40 AM

Antwerp, Belgium, Feb 4 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th Feb, 2021 ) :A Belgian court returns a verdict on Thursday in the trial of an Iranian diplomat accused of plotting a bomb attack against opposition activists meeting in France.

Assadollah Assadi, a 49-year-old formerly based in Vienna, faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted of plotting to target the June 30, 2018 rally.

The gathering in Villepinte outside Paris included senior leaders of the exiled National Council of Resistance in Iran (NCRI) and some high-profile supporters.

The case has shone a light on international operations just as it hopes the arrival of new US president will herald a loosening of sanctions.

Assadi is on trial in the Belgian port city of Antwerp along with three co-accused who were also arrested after police foiled the alleged plot.

The diplomat is charged with "attempted murders of a terrorist nature" and "taking part in the activity of a terrorist group".

Belgian-Iranian couple Nasimeh Naami, 36, and Amir Saadouni, 40 are accused of accepting a half-kilo of TATP explosives and a detonator from Assadi.

They face up to 18 years in jail.

Belgium-based Iranian poet Mehrdad Arefani was said to have been an accomplice of Assadi's who had been due to guide the couple at the rally.

He could serve 15 years.

Belgian officers halted the couple's car with the bomb on board on the day of the event, preventing what NCRI's legal team said would have been a "bloodbath".

Assadi was arrested on July 1 in Germany. He was accredited to the Iranian mission in Austria and was judged to have no diplomatic immunity in the Belgian case.