Two Iranian Embassy Staff Members Expelled from the Netherlands

The Dutch Intelligence and Security Service announced on Friday, July 6, that two staff members of the Iranian embassy in the Netherlands were expelled from the country about a month ago. Dutch media reported that Hulbert Breidemeijer, spokesperson for the Dutch Intelligence and Security Service, confirmed this news, stating that the two individuals were attached to the Iranian embassy in The Hague but were expelled on June 7. However, he did not mention the reason for this action and added that the Dutch intelligence organization 'unfortunately cannot' provide more information on this matter. The Iranian embassy is located in The Hague and, besides Alireza Jahangiri, the Iranian ambassador, consists of 11 other staff members. It is still unclear which of these eleven individuals were expelled. The German news agency also reported that it has not yet received a response from the Dutch Foreign Ministry regarding this news. The expulsion of embassy staff is a rare occurrence. The news of the expulsion of two Iranian embassy staff members comes after Assadollah Assadi, an Iranian diplomat working at the Islamic Republic's embassy in Vienna, was arrested in Germany in connection with a planned attack on the venue of the National Council of Resistance. Austria even gave Tehran 48 hours on Tuesday, ahead of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's arrival in Vienna, to revoke the diplomatic immunity of this diplomat. The arrest of Assadollah Assadi followed the detention of an Iranian couple whose vehicle contained half a kilogram of explosives. Others have also been arrested in connection with this case in Belgium and France, and investigations are ongoing. Meanwhile, the Iranian Foreign Ministry reported the summoning of the ambassadors of Germany, Belgium, and France in protest against the meeting of the People's Mojahedin and the arrest of the Iranian diplomat, describing the diplomat and explosives case as a 'scenario' to undermine Iran-Europe relations. Reuters reported that in response to the news of the expulsion of two Iranian embassy staff from the Netherlands, a senior Iranian official stated that 'all these arrests and expulsions are part of the actions of our enemies to undermine efforts to save the nuclear agreement.' The Iranian embassy in The Hague also witnessed unrest on January 6 of this year, where a group of individuals shouted 'Death to the Islamic Republic' in Persian, crossed metal barriers in front of the embassy, and threw objects like eggs and stones at the building. Dutch police arrested eight people in this regard. Another recent news item related to Iran-Netherlands relations includes the street assassinations of Iranian citizens in the Netherlands. On November 8 of last year, it was reported that an Iranian political activist, identified as one of the leaders of a separatist Arab group from Khuzestan, was shot dead in The Hague. According to Dutch state television, Ahmad Mola Abunahd, known as Ahmad Nissi, founder of the 'Al-Ahwaz Liberation Movement,' was killed that day in front of his residence in The Hague. On December 15, 2015, a man named Ali Mo'tamed was shot on the street in Almere, Netherlands, and died the same day in the hospital. In this regard, a court for two suspects in his murder was held for the first time this June in Lelystad, Netherlands, where Dutch media reported that Ali Mo'tamed is 'most likely' the same Reza Kalahi Samadi, the main responsible for the explosion at the Islamic Republic Party building. In that explosion, which occurred on June 28, 1981, several high-ranking officials of the Islamic Republic, including Mohammad Hosseini Beheshti, the then head of the Supreme Court, were killed. The trial of the suspects in the murder of Ali Mo'tamed (or Reza Kalahi Samadi) is set to continue in August of this year.