Iran Focus
London, 14 July – Following a summit of NATO leaders 0n Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pom-peo met with leaders of European nations, and pressed them to get tough on Iran by cutting off all funding the country may use to foment instability in the Middle East and beyond. He urged them to to join a U.S.-led economic pressure campaign against Tehran, and clamp down on Iranian “terrorism and proxy wars”.
Prior to the talks, Pompeo posted on Twitter: “We ask our allies and partners to join our economic pressure campaign against Iran, we must cut off all funding Iran uses to fund terrorism and proxy wars. There’s no telling when Iran may try to foment ter-rorism, violence & instability in one of our countries next.” Along with the tweet was a map that outlined Iran’s sponsoring of at least 11 terrorist attacks in Europe since 1978.
As well, on Twitter he said, “Iran continues to send weapons across the Middle East, in blatant violation of UN Security Council resolutions. Iran wants to start trouble wherever it can. It’s our responsibility to stop it.”
President Trump announced the U.S. exit from the landmark Iran nuclear deal last May and announced the re-imposition of sanctions — a major step toward pressuring Iran. U.S. officials have been traveling to countries around the world to warn foreign governments to stop buying oil from Iran or face sanctions.
Accusing Iran of using its embassies to plot terrorist attacks in Europe, in an inter-view on Tuesday, in Abu Dhabi, Pompeo said, “Just this past week there were Iranians arrested in Europe who were preparing to conduct a terror plot in Paris, France. We have seen this malign behavior in Europe.”
His was referring to the arrest of an Iranian diplomat posted to Vienna, who was al-legedly involved in a plot to bomb an Iranian opposition group rally in France on June 30th. His arrest came after a Belgian couple of Iranian origin was stopped by authori-ties in Belgium, with powerful explosives in their car.
Iran denies involvement, and claims that the allegations are intended to damage its relations with the European Union.
The diplomat, Assadollah Assadi, was charge in Germany on Wednesday. He’s stands activity of being a foreign agent and with conspiracy to commit murder. He is sus-pected of contracting the Belgian couple to attack the popular annual meeting of an exiled Iranian opposition group in Villepinte, near Paris, according to German prose-cutors.
In a written statement, prosecutors alleged that gave the Antwerp-based couple a de-vice containing 500 grams of the explosive TATP during a meeting in Luxembourg in late June.
Belgian authorities have also accused Assadi of being part of the plot aimed at setting off explosives at the annual rally of the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq group, or MEK, in neighboring France, and want him extradited.
The MEK is an exiled Iranian opposition group based near Paris, with some members in Albania.
