During a conference in Brussels on February 4, the focus was on Iranian state-sponsored terrorism, which is targeting Europe and the Iranian opposition who are living within the European Union boundaries.
According to panelists at the conference, the European response to these acts of terror have not been robust and that lack of response has emboldened the regime and its security forces. The speakers pointed out that increasing pressure from outside and inside Iran will drive the regime to attack the resistance. Using its security forces, including the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS), the regime and its mullahs is going to increase its attacks on the Iranian resistance, particularly the PMOI/MEK.
The panelists included Alejo Vidal Quadras, the former Vice-President of the European Parliament from Spain and the President of the ISJ, who also moderated the conference. Several prominent NGOs sponsored the conference.
“Iran’s terrorism is directly controlled by people who hold the reins of power. The Iranian regime will continue to operate that way as long as the EU continues to tolerate that behavior. The whole Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), as well as the regime’s leaders, should be included in the terrorists’ list,” said Louis Freeh, a former director of the United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI).
On June 30, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) hosted its annual Free Iran rally. Arrests were made throughout Europe and it was determined that the rally was the target of the thwarted attack. The planning was tied to an Iranian diplomat from Vienna who also worked for MOIS.
Farzin Hashemi, a representative of the NCRI, exposed the role of Reza Amiri Moghadam, the Deputy Minister of Intelligence and a member of the Supreme Security Council, who travelled to Vienna to meet with Assadollah Assadi, the diplomat who was arrested as part of the thwarted plot.
“All the regime’s authorities are involved in decision making for terrorist operations. The Minister of Intelligence as well as the Minister of Foreign Affairs are in the picture of those decisions and implement those decisions,” said Hashemi. “Europe has acknowledged the role of the MOIS and the Deputy Minister of Intelligence in terrorism by designating them as terrorist entities. It is now time to respect the consequences and to put an end to business as usual.”
According to Yves Bonnet, a former director of France’s DST, the lack of action throughout the international community, in particular Europe, was not due to a lack of information but a lack of political will. “There is quite nothing more important and more vital for a totalitarian regime than liquidating its opponents, who dare criticize it, especially abroad,” said Bonnet.
After introducing the panelists, Vidal-Quadras pointed out that the International Committee in Search of Justice (ISJ) co-sponsored the conference and is a source of papers and reports on Islamic fundamentalism and terrorism.
“In the past year, we have witnessed multiple Iranian terror plots in Europe and in the United States. A number of Iranian agents and diplomats have been arrested and are facing trial in Europe and in the U.S., five other diplomats, or I should say diplomat terrorists, including a serving Ambassador have been expelled from Europe for their participation in terror planning on European soil,” said Vidal-Quadras. He noted that EU diplomats in the past have tried to claim that the government in Iran is not aware of these activities and should not be held accountable.
In response to that belief, Vidal-Quadras quoted Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, who said that they were not a people that acted on their own without the Supreme Leader being aware of it. He also questioned why the EU had not acted to blacklist the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the whole of MOIS.
“And if the EU is now very rightly concerned of Iranian terror on its soil, why do they continue their trade and business with the regime and even introduce a new mechanism to help companies bypass the U.S. sanctions on Iran?” said Vidal-Quadras. “We cannot have business as usual with this regime, which has clearly received a green light from the western appeasement policy, to target civilians in Europe and the USA.”
He also reiterated that the latest slew of terrorist attacks in Europe initiated by Iran happened after the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was signed, showing that the nuclear deal is not a protection, but actually contributed to easing the pressure on Iran and its regime. Now that the pressure is back on, Europe clearly has some decisions to make.
Source » themediaexpress