(Photo : Photo by Hollie Adams/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 18: A protestor holds a flag at a rally in support of the ongoing anti-regime protests in Iran, in Trafalgar Square on January 18, 2020 in London, England. They are calling on the UK government to recognise the democratic aspirations of the Iranian people.
As Tehran sought to foster international relations in Europe and Washington, an Iranian diplomat gave them another headache. The Vienna-based diplomat identified as Assadollah Assadi was convicted on Thursday after he was accused of being the person behind the 2018 Paris bomb plot against dissidents.
Assadi, who is facing not only 20 years of imprisonment but also marking a black eye for Iran, denied the charges but found himself convicted along with three other defendants, who were also found guilty.
But the defense team of Assadi stated that he would appeal the conviction.
The said plot orchestrated by Assadi in 2018 targeted the meeting of NCRI or the National Council of Resistance of Iran, which is an annual meeting that was attended by speakers, including the lawyer of Trump, Rudy Guiliani.
The NCRI is the main opposition to Iran's regime and consists of the umbrella group of Iranian resistance groups.
According to Fox News, the prosecutors allegedly stated that the plot was originally from high officials of the Iranian government, but Tehran repeatedly denied and emphasized that they are not responsible for the said plot.
The prosecutors also claimed that Assadi was just an operational commander on the alleged planned attack and served as a recruiter of individuals who would deliver the bomb.
Based on the prosecutors, they believed that Assadi was the one who carried the explosives via a commercial flight to Austria and just handed the bomb to the three individuals in Luxembourg.
Based on the ruling, the said explosives were made and even tested on Iranian soil.
The president-elect of the NCRI, Maryam Rajavi, shared in an interview that the plot was planned and approved by the official, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, the New York Times reported.
She also added that the trial shows what, for her, is a policy of appeasement that emboldened the leaders.
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Believed to be the target of the bombing plot, Rajavi stated that the message of this trial is for the world to know that no degree of political or economic concessions is enough to change the regime's behavior.
And that terrorism is a part of the regime's DNA, and all of its factions benefitted from it.
Rajavi also emphasized that terrorism is a part of the survival strategy of the regime.
Moreover, Rajavi called the attention of the European countries to respond to the plot after the verdict.
The leader of the People's Mujahedin of Iran, Rajavi, also shared that the time has come for the European Union to take action as silence and inaction under whatever pretext will only embolden the regime of Iran to continue its crimes and terrorism, the Associated Press reported.
The spokesman of the Foreign Affairs Ministry of Iran condemned the court's decision. He said that Iran did not recognize the sentence, considering the Belgian proceedings against Assadi as illegal.
But the said claims were rejected by the court.
