Washington, DC, July 2, 2022 – In a letter to Alexander De Croo, the Belgian Prime Minster and Mrs. Eliane Tillieux, the
President of the Belgian Chamber of Representatives, Organization of Iranian American Communities (OIAC) condemned the planned exchange between Belgium and Iran, of convicted terrorist diplomat Assadollah Assadi. OIAC urged the Belgian Parliament president to use all her powers and inform her colleagues about the serious consequences of such approval of the shameful deal between the Iranian regime and the Government of Belgium. “Vote based on your conscience and the need to protect the country against terrorism, not your political allegiance to the Government,” asked OIAC of the members of the Belgian Chamber of Representatives.
If the bill is approved next week, it will not only encourage future terrorist operations in Europe and the Americas, buts also affronts U.S. Congressional sentiment and the justice. Belgium is unfortunately trying to appease a terrorist regime by setting free a terrorist whose plot was to shed the blood of hundreds of Iranian, European, and American citizens.
The Belgian Parliament plans to consider a bill approved by the Belgian government based on a March 2022 agreement between the Iranian regime and the Government of Belgium to transfer convicts and criminals from the two countries of Belgium and the Iranian regime, ostensibly to serve sentences in their respective countries. Assadi was tried, convicted, and sentenced to 20 years imprisonment (after the conclusion of the appeals court) this year. He had plotted to bomb the Iranian Resistance Free Iran gathering in Paris, France on June 30, 2018.
OIAC and its member state organizations have over the years sponsored a number of U.S. Congressional Delegations to the annual Free Iran event. In addition to Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, members of a U.S. Congressional Delegation, dozens of prominent American dignitaries, hundreds of Iranian American men, women and children from 34 U.S. states, as well as parliamentarians from Europe and the Middle East were targeted. Were it to be successful, the 2018 plot would have resulted in the largest ever terrorist attack in Europe.
It bears noting that the U.S. Congress has weighed in on Assadi’s case. In the 117th Congress, over 252 bi-partisan House members co-sponsored H.Res.118, making clear that the U.S. House of Representatives, “condemns past and present Iranian state-sponsored terrorist attacks against United States citizens and officials, as well as Iranian dissidents, including the Iranian regime’s terror plot against the ‘Free Iran 2018–the Alternative’ gathering in Paris.” The resolution also calls on, relevant United States Government agencies to work with European allies…to hold Iran accountable for breaching diplomatic privileges, and to call on nations to prevent the malign activities of the Iranian regime’s diplomatic missions, with the goal of closing them down.” Representative Tom McClintock (R-CA) and Brad Sherman (D-CA) are the measure’s sponsors.
In addition, during the 116th Congress, H.Res.374, with 221 bi-partisan co-sponsors similarly condemned, “Iranian state-sponsored terrorism,” against the 2018 gathering and stated, “several prominent bipartisan former United States Government officials, several retired United States generals, congressional staff, and thousands of American citizens participated in that gathering.”
We call on representatives of the European Parliament, lawmakers in various European countries, U.S. government officials, human rights organizations, and concerned citizens to take immediate action to prevent the implementation of this shameful plot and prevent rewarding terrorism.