![\"Iran_Protests_Uprising_04112020\"](\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Iran_Protests_Uprising_04112020.jpg\" "\\"Iran_Protests_Uprising_04112020\\"")
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In the summer of 2018, an Iranian-Belgian couple was detained attempting to drive into France while carrying 500 grams of the high-explosive TATP. The following day, an Iranian \u201cdiplomat\u201d was arrested in Germany for having personally delivered the explosives to that couple along with instructions on how to operate it and where to place it. A fourth accomplice was also detained by French authorities after having infiltrated the target venue, a convention space just outside Paris that played host to an annual gathering organized by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI<\/a>).<\/p>\n The terror plot remained under investigation for about two and a half years before the diplomat-terrorist, Assadollah Assadi<\/a>, went on trial alongside his co-conspirators last November. The verdict was originally scheduled to be read out before the end of January, but is expected on Thursday. Given the strength of the evidence that has been made available to the public, there does not seem to be much doubt about the defendants being pronounced guilty, though it remains to be seen whether the judge will follow prosecutors\u2019 recommendation to hand Assadi the maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.<\/p>\n It also remains to be seen whether the consequences of the terror plot and subsequent prosecution will extend beyond the lives of the four defendants, as they should. In a report on the then-ongoing investigation in February 2020, the Belgian National Security Service emphasized that the terror plot was \u201cdeveloped in the name of Iran at the request of its leadership\u201d and that \u201cAssadi didn\u2019t initiate the plans himself.\u201d This has naturally led to widespread calls for accountability from the Iranian regime as a whole. Dozens of European policymakers have expressed that sentiment in at least two recent statements addressed to leading officials in the European Union and the Council of Europe.<\/p>\n One such statement was prepared<\/a> by the International Committee in Search of Justice and signed by more than 20 former government officials representing a dozen European countries. Another was signed<\/a> by more than 40 current European parliamentarians and addressed primarily to Rik Daems, the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. Both used similar language to demand that lawmakers pay due attention to the conclusion of the Assadi case and then recognize it as grounds for reevaluating their countries\u2019 overall approaches to Iran policy. Both statements also implied that existing policies tend toward appeasement and has and will be emboldening Iran\u2019s terrorist activity.<\/p>\n #Iran<\/a>: Forty Members of Parliamentary Assembly of the #Council<\/a> of #Europe<\/a> (#PACE<\/a> ) Call for Revision of Iran Policy https:\/\/t.co\/ma7LM0VdIz<\/a><\/p>\n — NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) February 2, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n