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Four Iranians Face Trial Before Belgian Judiciary

Belgian police special forces patrol after an area of the Forest commune that had been closed by them in Brussels, Belgium February 22, 2018. REUTERS/Yves Herman
Belgian police special forces patrol after an area of the Forest commune that had been closed by them in Brussels, Belgium February 22, 2018. REUTERS/Yves Herman
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Four Iranians Face Trial Before Belgian Judiciary

Belgian police special forces patrol after an area of the Forest commune that had been closed by them in Brussels, Belgium February 22, 2018. REUTERS/Yves Herman
Belgian police special forces patrol after an area of the Forest commune that had been closed by them in Brussels, Belgium February 22, 2018. REUTERS/Yves Herman

This November will witness the trial of an Iranian group charged with planning an attack on a rally of the Paris-based National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) at the end of June in Villepinte.

The meeting was attended by some 25,000 individuals including international prominent figures.

The rally was also attended by leading US figures, including President Donald Trump's personal lawyer, former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, and other close allies of Trump.

Assadolah Assadi is the central figure in this case. This 49-year-old man was a diplomat in Iraq from 2003 to 2008, before being appointed third secretary at the Iranian embassy in Vienna, in 2014. According to State Security, he mainly acted on behalf of the “Department 312”, a service of the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) which appears on the list of organizations classified as terrorist by the European Union.

During his military training, Assadi was notably introduced to the manufacture of explosives and his main mission was to collect information on Iranian opponents, in liaison with the foreign ministry.

In case the charges were confirmed, the four will be handed over a life-imprisonment sentence.

Assadi was arrested while on holiday in Germany and handed over to Belgium, where two of his suspected accomplices had been arrested with 500 grams (one lb) of TATP, an explosive, as well as a detonation device.

Le Mond reported that Assadi showed no cooperation with the Belgium investigation. Not only that, but he also warned authorities of possible retaliation by unidentified groups in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen if he is found guilty.

Assadollah’s lawyer, Dimitri de Beco, denied his client was making threats.

“It is absolutely not a threat of retaliation and if it’s understood that way it’s a misinterpretation,” he told Reuters. “He will explain the sense of his remarks to the court.”

Jaak Raes, head of the Belgian State Security Service, revealed on Feb. 20 that the terrorist attack wasn’t a personal initiative by Assadi but was pushed by Iran.

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South Korea, Japan Foreign Ministers Stress Security Ties amid Political Turmoil

South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul, right, and Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, hold a joint news conference following their meeting at the foreign ministry in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Jan. 13, 2025. (Jung Yeon-je/Pool Photo via AP)
South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul, right, and Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, hold a joint news conference following their meeting at the foreign ministry in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Jan. 13, 2025. (Jung Yeon-je/Pool Photo via AP)
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South Korea, Japan Foreign Ministers Stress Security Ties amid Political Turmoil

South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul, right, and Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, hold a joint news conference following their meeting at the foreign ministry in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Jan. 13, 2025. (Jung Yeon-je/Pool Photo via AP)
South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul, right, and Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, hold a joint news conference following their meeting at the foreign ministry in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Jan. 13, 2025. (Jung Yeon-je/Pool Photo via AP)

Foreign ministers from South Korea and Japan met in Seoul on Monday to discuss strengthening their relations in the face of increasing security challenges in the region and political tumult in the host nation.

It marked the highest-level diplomatic meeting between the countries since South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's short-lived imposition of martial law last month, a move that has triggered political turmoil in one of Asia's most vibrant democracies.

It also came amid heightened concerns about North Korea's missile testing and deepening security pact with Russia, and China's increasingly muscular attempts to assert its maritime claims in the South and East China Seas.

"The security situation in this region is becoming very severe, and in that strategic environment, the importance of Japan-ROK relations has not changed, and in fact has become increasingly important," Japan's Takeshi Iwaya said at a joint press conference with South Korea's Cho Tae-yul.

Iwaya is also due to meet acting South Korean President Choi Sang-mok, who is standing in for impeached President Yoon.

Yoon has been holed up in his hillside villa in Seoul since parliament voted to suspend him last month over his martial law decree on Dec. 3 with investigators vowing to arrest him in a separate probe into possible insurrection.

At their press conference, Iwaya and Choi also both reiterated the importance of developing three-way security cooperation with their shared ally, the United States.

With the administration of US President-elect Donald Trump set to begin on Jan. 20, none of the original leaders who established the security pact between the countries in 2023 - US President Joe Biden, Yoon, and former Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida - will remain in power.

Yoon had made it a diplomatic priority to mend ties with Tokyo - often strained by historic issues - and pursue a joint security drive with Washington to tackle North Korea's military threats.

In a nod to those efforts to put aside historic issues, Iwaya earlier on Monday visited the Seoul National Cemetery which honors Korean veterans, including those who died seeking independence from Japanese colonial rule which ended in 1945.

Also on Monday, Japan, the Philippines and the United States vowed to further deepen cooperation under a trilateral arrangement in the face of rising tensions in Asia's waters, following a call among their leaders.

Last week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on a visit to South Korea expressed confidence in Seoul's democratic process, although he said Washington had expressed "serious concerns" over some of the actions Yoon took over the course of his martial law declaration.

Despite polls showing a majority of South Koreans disapprove of Yoon's martial law declaration and support his impeachment, his ruling People Power Party (POP) has enjoyed somewhat of a revival.

Support for the PPP stood at 40.8% in the latest Realmeter poll released on Monday, while the main opposition Democratic Party's support stood at 42.2%, within a margin of error and down from a gap of 10.8% from last week, the poll said.