Germany Grants Extradition of Iranian Diplomat Suspected of Plotting Attack to Belgium

A court in Germany has agreed to extradite an Iranian diplomat accused of involvement in planning an attack on a rally of the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization in Paris. The diplomat, Assadollah Assadi, worked at the Iranian embassy in Vienna and was arrested in early July this year for a joint investigation in Germany, Belgium, and France regarding this case in Bavaria, Germany. On Monday (October 1), Agence France-Presse reported that a court in Bamberg announced that during its session on September 27, it agreed to transfer Mr. Assadi to Belgium. According to the court's statement, he cannot claim diplomatic immunity as he was outside his country of service (Austria) and on leave. Shortly after Assadi's arrest in Germany, the Austrian government officially requested Tehran to revoke the diplomat's diplomatic immunity. Assadi is accused of commissioning an 'explosive attack' against the Mujahedin-e Khalq rally to a couple residing in Antwerp, Belgium. This couple has also been arrested. The Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization's rally took place on Saturday, June 30, near Paris, attended by 25,000 people, including speakers like Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York and a close associate of U.S. President Donald Trump. Six people were arrested in connection with this case in Belgium, France, and Germany, with reports later indicating that two of them were released. The German prosecutor's office has identified Assadi as a security agent of the Islamic Republic who ordered the attack on the aforementioned rally from the detained Iranian couple in Belgium. In July, Belgium requested the extradition of Assadi and another detained Iranian named 'Merhad A.' Belgian police consider 'Merhad A.' to be an accomplice of the arrested Iranian couple, who had 500 grams of explosive material and detonators discovered in their bag at the time of their arrest. The identities of the Iranian couple have also been reported as 'Amir S.' and 'Nasimeh N.' Amir, Nasimeh, and Merhad hold Belgian citizenship. The Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization's website has stated that the detainees 'pretended to be supporters of the Mujahedin' and their identities are 'Amir Saadouni' and 'Nasim Nomani.' The Iranian Foreign Ministry has rejected this claim, stating that a 'wicked operation' was designed to 'provide false information' against the Islamic Republic amid rising tensions between the country and the U.S. The Islamic Republic claims that the detainees in Belgium are themselves 'members' of the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization. Bahram Qasemi, the spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, without mentioning Assadollah Assadi's name, stated regarding the three other detainees that 'according to available information, the detainees in Belgium are considered known and operational members of that terrorist organization, and competent Iranian authorities are ready to cooperate by providing necessary documents to clarify the real dimensions of this pre-designed scenario by the mentioned group.'