US backs French moves against Iran for terror plot

WASHINGTON DC (Kurdistan 24) – The State Department offered strong support on Tuesday for French measures against Tehran for its involvement in a bombing plot that targeted a rally of the opposition Mujahedeen el Khalq (MEK) in Paris last June.

The plot, itself, was disrupted by arrests in Belgium, France, and Germany.

The French Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Interior, and Finance issued a joint statement on Tuesday in which they affirmed that Iranian intelligence was behind the foiled plot and that, in response, France was freezing the assets of the rogue intelligence agency.

Paris also declared that the assets of two individuals would be frozen. They include Saeid Hashemi Moghadam, Deputy Minister and Director-General of Intelligence, as well as Assadollah Assadi, an Iranian intelligence agent under diplomatic cover based in Vienna.

Assadi was arrested in Germany on July 1 for his role in the plot. On Monday, a German court rejected his claim of diplomatic immunity and ordered his extradition to Belgium, where a Belgian couple of Iranian origin was arrested with half a kilogram of TATP explosive and a detonator that Assadi had supplied them.

The couple was supposed to travel to Paris and join a third individual in carrying out the bombing plot.

Speaking to reporters on Friday, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov strongly criticized the US position on Iran, including the US claim that Iran is a major state sponsor of terrorism.

“We do not have proof,” Lavrov said, that “Iran is a state that sponsors terrorism.”

He also disputed the US view that Iran was an aggressive party feeding and exploiting conflicts in Yemen, Iraq, and Syria to expand its influence, including through the creation of a “land bridge” to the Mediterranean.

Lavrov described Iran’s role in those countries as legitimate, adding “I don't think that you can lock [Iran] in a cage within its borders.”

Addressing reporters on Tuesday, State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert cited the French actions against Iran in refuting Lavrov’s statement.

She also noted Iran’s role in the 1983 bombing of the Marine barracks bombing in Beirut and reaffirmed that Iran was “the world’s top sponsor of terrorism.”

Regarding Sunday’s elections in the Kurdistan Region, Nauert urged the “quick formation of the new Kurdish government.”

“Voting is obviously a critical part of any democratic society,” she said, “and we look forward to the final certification” of the results.

Nauert also offered her congratulations to Rahim Rashidi, Kurdistan 24’s Washington DC bureau chief, whom President Donald Trump called on for a question last week in New York.

Trump addressed him as “Mr. Kurd,” much to Rashidi’s delight, and making him, at least briefly, an internet sensation.

Editing by Nadia Riva