An Iranian diplomat and two men will be sent to Belgium by France and Germany to face accusations over their links to a bomb plot at an Iranian opposition rally that was held on the outskirts of Paris over the weekend, judicial sources revealed Wednesday.
Belgium is already investigating two Belgians of Iranian origin arrested on Saturday, the day of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) meeting. Five hundred grams of the homemade explosive TATP and a detonation device were found in their car.
In addition to the two people arrested in Belgium, an Austria-based Iranian diplomat was held in Germany, and a man of Iranian origin was held in France. Judicial authorities in France and Germany told Reuters Belgium had requested they be extradited.
“It’s extremely sensitive and the Belgians are taking the lead,” said one European intelligence source.
French officials have declined to comment on the matter saying the nature of the incident is unclear.
During a visit by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to Vienna on Wednesday, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said in a statement to reporters that Rouhani had assured him that he would work to clarify the case.
Iran has said it had nothing to do with the plot, which it called a “false flag” operation staged by figures within the opposition group itself.
Later on Wednesday, Iran's foreign ministry summoned the French and Belgian ambassadors and Germany's chargé d'affaires in protest at the arrest of the Iranian diplomat, Fars news agency reported, citing the ministry.
"The Iranian deputy foreign minister expressed Iran’s strong protest over the arrest of an Iranian diplomat and emphasized that due to the immunity of diplomats in the Vienna Convention, he should be released without any delay and with no condition," ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi was quoted as saying.
He added the arrest was a plot to damage Iran-European ties, especially at a time when Iranian Rouhani was in Europe to save an international nuclear deal following Washington's withdrawal from the landmark accord.
Any suggestion that Iranian authorities were behind the plot in France could make it politically difficult for leaders, especially French President Emmanuel Macron, to continue to back the nuclear deal.
The Austrian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday it was stripping the diplomatic status of the diplomat arrested in Germany. Iran’s foreign ministry has rejected as baseless the allegations against the diplomat.
