Iranian diplomat held in Belgium over ‘bomb plot’

BRUSSELS: An Iranian diplomat was taken into custody in Belgium on Wednesday on suspicion of involvement in an alleged plot to bomb an Iranian opposition rally in France.
An investigating magistrate earlier questioned the Iranian, normally based in Vienna, in the northern Belgian city of Antwerp, the Federal Prosecutor’s Office said.
Prosecutors said Tuesday that the suspect, previously identified as Assadollah Assadi, had been extradited to Belgium from Germany.
Iran has denied French accusations that one of its diplomats was involved in a plot targeting an annual gathering of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) on June 30 just outside Paris.
Belgian anti-terrorism prosecutors announced on July 2 that they had foiled the plot. They then requested the extradition of both Assadi and a man identified as Merhad A., who was detained in Paris.
Belgian police believe Merhad A. is an accomplice of a husband and wife team caught in Brussels in possession of 500 grams (about a pound) of the powerful explosive TATP and a detonator.
All three are Belgian nationals of Iranian origin.