Let's talk Iran - Feb 4, 2021
TERRORISM
Online Panel: Iran Opposition NCRI Weighs Regime Foreign Ministry’s Role in 2018 Bombing Plot
Several prominent U.S. figures attended an online conference held by the Iranian opposition coalition National Council of Resistance of Iran U.S. representative office (NCRI-US) elaborating the impact of today’s verdict by a court in Belgium in the case of Iran’s diplomat-terrorist Assadollah Assadi for his role in a bomb plot in 2018. LINK
Iranian diplomat gets 20 years for 2018 bomb plot against dissident exiles
Legal documents tied to the investigation obtained by AP cite Belgium’s intel/security agency as saying Assadi operated on orders from Iran‘s government and brought explosives to Europe himself. LINK
Court sentences Iranian diplomat, accomplices to prison terms on terrorism charges
The court recognized all defendants as criminals who had assembled a terrorist entity. The judge rejected Assadi’s claim to diplomatic immunity.
The judge stipulated that the bomb that Assadi had delivered to Naami and Saadouni to detonate at the event was manufactured in Iran and transferred to Europe in a diplomatic suitcase. LINK
Iranian Diplomat Convicted of Planning Attack on Opposition
An Iranian diplomat identified as an undercover secret agent was convicted Thursday in Belgium of masterminding a thwarted bomb attack against an exiled Iranian opposition group in France and sentenced to 20 years in prison, a legal outcome that infuriated Tehran. LINK
Iranian diplomat Assadollah Assadi jailed for 20 years over attempted Paris bomb attack
An Iranian who claimed diplomatic immunity from prosecution has been sentenced to 20 years in prison by a Belgian court for an attempted bomb attack in Paris in 2018. A court in Antwerp convicted Assadollah Assadi of attempted terrorist murder and participation in the activities of a terrorist group. LINK
Iran diplomat given 20 years for Paris bomb plot
The case has shone a light on Iran's international operations just as it hopes the arrival of new US President Joe Biden will herald a loosening of sanctions. LINK
Iranian Diplomat Sentenced To 20 Years For Role In Foiled Bomb Attack
Prosecution lawyer Georges-Henri Beauthier said the ruling shows that "a diplomat doesn't have immunity for criminal acts...and the responsibility of the Iranian state in what could have been carnage."
Belgian Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne said that "the justice system has ruled on facts of terrorism and made a clear statement about it." LINK
Belgian Court: Iranian Diplomat, 3 Others, Guilty of Attempted Terrorist Murder in Thwarted 2018 Attack in Paris
"... the court found that the four defendants are part of a larger terrorist group within a specific Iranian intelligence service." LINK
NUCLEAR
Macron backs U.S.-Iran dialogue, floats himself as 'honest broker'
French President Emmanuel Macron said Saudi Arabia and Israel must ultimately be involved somehow on the #Iran nuclear issue.
Expect harsh remarks from Tehran. More signs of the Biden era not being a stroll in the park for the mullahs. LINK
U.S., E3 foreign ministers expected to discuss Iran soon - sources
U.S., British, French & German foreign ministers are expected to discuss soon how to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. Instead of "reviving" they should focus on strengthening & fixing loopholes/sunsets. LINK
HUMAN RIGHTS
Iran Human Rights Monitor, Monthly Report – January 2021
Iran Human Rights Monitor has recorded more than 27 executions in January 2021. Four prisoners were hanged for politically motivated charges. LINK
Iran: Eight Baluchi and Ahwazi Arab prisoners at risk amid alarming rise in executions
Iranian authorities must immediately halt any plans to execute four Baluchi and four Ahwazi Arab men amid an alarming rise in executions of ethnic minority prisoners in the past two months, Amnesty International said today. The international community, including UN human rights bodies and the EU must urgently intervene to save their lives. LINK
Political prisoner Zahra Safaei in dire health conditions in Qarchak Prison
News from Qarchak Prison of Varamin indicate political prisoner Zahra Safaei is in dire health conditions, as the prison’s warden, Soghra Khodadadi has prevented her urgent dispatch to a civic hospital. LINK