A GERMAN court has ruled that an Iranian diplomat can be extradited to Belgium, where he is accused of playing a central role in planning a failed attack on a Paris rally organised by his country’s opposition in exile.
Assadollah Assadi, pictured, is alleged to have supplied half a kilo of explosives to bombers to launch an attack at the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) rally on June 30, which was attended by tens of thousands of supporters and high-profile speakers.
The state court in Bamberg said all extradition conditions had been met and there were no barriers to extradition
It added that Assadi could not invoke diplomatic immunity, as he had been on holiday in Germany when he was arrested in July, rather than on diplomatic duties.
He has been accused of activity as a foreign agent and conspiracy to commit murder.
Belgian police said the plot was foiled when they stopped a Mercedes car being driven by an Iranian couple based in Antwerp and found the explosives inside a toilet bag.
Assadi is alleged to have passed the substance to the pair at an earlier meeting in Luxembourg.
German prosecutors are in the process of reviewing the extradition decision.
The NCRI has welcomed the German court’s decision and has called for judicial proceedings to be hastened and for full disclosure of all details of the alleged plot, which they said was sanctioned at the highest level of the Iranian regime - the Supreme Security Council.
It also said that what it described as “state-sponsored terrorism” should be referred to the United Nations Security Council.
The NCRI claimed Assadi had played a pivotal role in Europe as the regime’s head of intelligence there for four years, and had experience of handling explosives and demolition.
He was based on the third floor of the regime’s embassy in Vienna, regarded as a major hub for the intelligence ministry in Europe.
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