Dutch Prosecutor: No Evidence Found Linking Iranian Government to Ali Motamed's Murder

The public prosecutor in the Netherlands stated during the trial of a man accused of murdering Ali Motamed that no evidence has been found so far regarding Iran's involvement in this murder. The NL Times reported on Wednesday about the trial of Noufal A., who is accused of ordering the murder of Ali Motamed in Almere in 2015. According to the NL Times, while the prosecutor claims that no evidence has been found regarding Iran's involvement in Motamed's murder, the Dutch intelligence service announced earlier this month that it has 'serious indications' showing Iran's involvement in the assassination attempts against two Dutch citizens of Iranian descent, one in Almere in 2015 and another in The Hague in 2017. Reportedly, Ali Motamed, who worked as an electrician for a power company named Inco, was shot dead on the morning of December 15, 2015, as he was leaving his home in Almere, Netherlands. In this context, a court in June this year held its first trial for two suspects in his murder in the city of Lelystad, and Dutch media reported that Ali Motamed is 'most likely' the same Mohammad Reza Kolahi Samadi, a member of the People's Mojahedin Organization and the main perpetrator of the bombing of the Islamic Republic Party building on July 7, 1981. The public prosecutor stated that Ali Motamed had no criminal record and the motive for his murder remains unclear. The defense attorney criticized the prosecutor's office for insufficient investigation into Ali Motamed's background, asserting that his client had no role in Motamed's murder. The trial of 28-year-old Anwar A. and 35-year-old Muro M., the two suspects in Motamed's murder, is set to take place on Friday. According to the public prosecutor, Noufal A. ordered these two individuals to kill Ali Motamed. Noufal A. is currently serving an 18-year prison sentence for attempting to assassinate a Dutch citizen in 2015. Meanwhile, last November, an Iranian citizen named Ahmad Mola Abunahad, known as Ahmad Nissi, founder of the Al-Ahwaz Liberation Movement, was murdered outside his residence in The Hague. In this regard, the Dutch intelligence and security service reported on Friday, July 6, that two Iranian embassy staff members in the Netherlands had been expelled from the country. The European Union also agreed on January 7 of this year to impose sanctions against part of Iran's Ministry of Intelligence due to 'planning assassinations on European soil.'