![\"Assadi-state-terrorism-05122020\"](\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Assadi-state-terrorism-05122020.jpg\" "\\"Assadi-state-terrorism-05122020\\"")
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A high-ranking diplomat of the Iranian regime has officially been convicted of plotting a terrorist attack in the heart of Europe. The verdict that was handed down by a Belgian federal court on Thursday is the strongest official confirmation that has ever been presented regarding the overlap between Iran\u2019s terrorist activity and its diplomatic networks. In its wake, the international community must seriously reconsider its approach to the Iranian regime\u2019s affairs and take proactive steps to prevent the emergence of new terrorist threats.<\/p>\n
The principal defendant in the Belgian case, Assadollah Assadi<\/a> was employed as third counsellor at the regime\u2019s embassy in Vienna in 2018 when he smuggled 500 grams of the high-explosive TATP onto a commercial flight from Iran, then handed it off to a pair of co-conspirators at a meeting in Luxembourg. The bomb was fortunately intercepted by Belgian law enforcement before the terrorists were able to cross into France where they planned to bomb the annual \u201cFree Iran\u201d gathering<\/a> organized by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI<\/a>).<\/p>\n While Belgium quickly determined that Assadi had been operating upon the direction of high authorities in the Iranian regime, the NCRI was soon able to clarify that the orders had come from the regime\u2019s Supreme National Security Council following input from both the regime\u2019s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani.<\/p>\n The implication of both these figures flew in the face of optimistic Western narratives regarding divisions between a hardline faction associated with Khamenei and a so-called \u201cmoderate\u201d faction associated with Rouhani. This in turn undermined the praise that some Western officials had heaped upon Rouhani\u2019s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif<\/a>, but it also helped to make sense of the fact that the 2018 terror plot had been channeled through a prominent Iranian embassy, where no major operations would be undertaken without the awareness and consent of the Foreign Minister.<\/p>\n<\/div>Iran\u2019s Terrorist-Diplomat, Assadollah Assadi, Led a Large Espionage & Terrorism Network in EU<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>![\"Iran’s](\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-youtube-lyte\/lyteCache.php?origThumbUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FNuuqeWGXCJA%2F0.jpg\")