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Five British MPs may have cheated death with a terrorist bomb at a Paris conference after an Iranian official allegedly smuggled explosives into his diplomatic bag.
Assadollah Assadi, 48, was carrying the ‘Mother of Satan’ bomb on an Austrian Airlines flight from Tehran to Vienna in the bag exempt from security checks, Belgian security sources said.
The device was to be detonated at a rally attended by a delegation of 35 Britons, including Conservative MPs Bob Blackman, Matthew Offord, Sir David Amess and Theresa Villiers and Roger Godsiff from Labor.
Other dignitaries at the 2018 conference for Iranian freedom included Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and Republican great Newt Gingrich.
Assadi, considered an official in Iran’s intelligence and security ministry, is one of the first diplomats to face terrorism charges.
Theresa Villiers MP flanked by Bob Blackman MP (left) and Roger Godsiff MP (right) speaks as the British delegation appears on stage during the Conference in Support of Freedom and Democracy in Iran on June 30, 2018 in Paris
Assadollah Assadi, 48, allegedly worked undercover at the Iranian embassy in Vienna. He is one of the first diplomats to face terrorism charges.
BRITISH DELEGATES: Conservative MPs Matthew Offord (left) and Sir David Amess
BRITISH DELEGATES: Labor MP Roger Godsiff (left) and Conservative MP Bob Blackman
He is on trial in Belgium, where intelligence agents foiled the plot, along with Amir Saadouni, 40, Saadouni’s wife, Nasimeh Naami, 36, and a fourth suspect, Mehrdad Arefani.
Authorities say the target of the attack was Maryam Rajavi, leader of the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq (MEK), which was organizing its annual Free Iran Meeting in Paris.
Mother of Satan (acetone peroxide) devices are famous for their use in the Manchester Arena and Parsons Green terrorist attacks, difficult to detect and easy to do, they are also incredibly volatile.
Ms Villiers, speaking on behalf of Britain at the conference, told The Sun: “Sending a bomb to Europe in a diplomatic bag on a commercial flight is an outrage.
‘If the court decides that’s what happened, it will be shocking. I feel like I’ve had a lucky escape.
According to legal documents from the two-year investigation, the Belgian intelligence and security agency (VSSE) says Assadi operated under Tehran’s orders.
In a note to the Belgian federal prosecutor, the agency argued that “the planned attack was conceived on behalf of Iran and at instigation.”
The prosecution did not comment on the case because the trial had not yet begun.
On June 30, 2018, Belgian police officers alerted that a possible attack on the MEK meeting in Paris detained Saadouni and his wife’s Mercedes car.
In his luggage they found a pound of the acetone peroxide explosive and a detonator.
In its report, Belgium’s bomb disposal unit said the device was of professional quality.
It could have caused a considerable explosion and panic in the crowd, estimated at 25,000, who had gathered that day in the French town of Villepinte, in the suburbs of Paris.
Considered by investigators as the “operational commander” of the attack, Assadi is suspected of having hired the married couple years earlier.
DIRECTED: Maryam Rajavi, leader of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, greets supporters in Villepinte, north of Paris, at the 2014 annual conference
MP Theresa Villiers speaks as the British delegation appears on stage during the Conference in Support of Freedom and Democracy in Iran on June 30, 2018 in Paris, France. The speakers declared their support for the uprising of the Iranian people and the democratic alternative, the National Council of Resistance of Iran and called on the international community to adopt a firm policy against the regime and support the people of Iran.
According to a VSSE note, Assadi is a spy who operated undercover at the Iranian embassy in Vienna.
Belgian state security officials believe he worked for the so-called Department 312 of the ministry, the internal security directorate, which is on the European Union list of terrorist organizations.
Assadi’s lawyer, Dimitri de Beco, told the Associated Press that his client is contesting all the charges against him.
“ His defense will raise a number of procedural issues, including the question of his diplomatic immunity, as it is not disputed that he had diplomatic status, at least at the time of the events, ” De Beco wrote in a short message, expressing Your opinion. I hope the court case is not a “political trial.”
The MEK, which was once an Iraqi-based armed organization, is the most structured among exiled Iranian opposition groups and is detested by the Iranian authorities.
He was removed from the EU and US terrorist lists several years ago after denouncing the violence and causing Western politicians to lobby on his behalf.
The MEK supports Trump’s hard line on Iran and backs sanctions on the country.
MEK leader Rajavi alleges that Assadi received direct orders from Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
“The leaders of the regime must be prosecuted and face justice,” he said last month during a video conference with journalists.
Assadi allegedly recruited the couple, Saadouni and Naami, who were of Iranian descent but lived in Antwerp, to obtain information on the Iranian opposition.
The fourth suspect, Arefani, is a Brussels resident suspected of traveling to Villepinte on the day of the planned attack.
Investigators discovered that he was in possession of a phone with Assadi’s number.
Travel records obtained by the AP show that Assadi made several trips to Iran in the months leading up to the rally, returning from the last just over a week before the foiled attack.
After arriving on the commercial flight to Austria, Assadi allegedly delivered the bomb to Saadouni and Naami during a meeting at a Pizza Hut restaurant in Luxembourg, two days before they were arrested.
Both have denied being aware that the diplomat, whose code name was Daniel, had given them a bomb.
Naami said that she believed the package contained fireworks.
Belgium’s bomb disposal unit said the acetone peroxide in the couple’s Mercedes car was ready for use.
It was “wrapped in plastic and hidden in the lining of a toiletry bag.”
Thousands of exiled Iranians gathered in Villepinte, north of Paris, to hear Maryam Rajavi, head of Iran’s National Council of Resistance, speak in June 2014.
Iranians applaud Maryam Rajavi, leader of Iran’s National Resistance Council, at a rally in Villepinte, a northern Paris suburb in June 2009.
They also found a digital remote trigger in a small bag belonging to Naami that contained feminine hygiene items.
Following his arrest, investigators also found a red notebook in Assadi’s car with instructions on how to use the bomb.
Analysis of the suspects’ text messages and emails revealed that they used code language to communicate, with ‘PlayStation 4’ the alleged name of the explosive device.
The French side of the investigation also established that Assadi visited Villepinte during the 2017 MEK rally, possibly on a reconnaissance trip.
If convicted, the four suspects face between five and 20 years in prison on charges of “attempted terrorist murder and involvement in the activities of a terrorist group.”
The hearings will last between two and three days and a verdict is expected to be delivered by the end of next month.
