TEHRAN, Iran — Iran accuses an exiled opposition group of orchestrating an alleged plot to bomb one of its own rallies near Paris and says a couple arrested in Belgium were actually members of the group.
Belgium, France and Germany detained six people over the alleged plan to bomb a weekend rally of the People’s Mujahedeen of Iran in the Paris suburb of Villepinte.
Tehran has dismissed accusations it was behind the plot. In a fresh statement, the foreign ministry says it was the People’s Mujahedeen itself that was behind the “scenario.”
“Based on the information available, the individuals arrested in Belgium are among the … notorious and operational elements” of the People’s Mujahedeen, the ministry says on its website.
“Relevant Iranian authorities are prepared to offer the necessary cooperation by presenting the required documents and evidence to shed light on the real dimensions of this pre-planned scenario orchestrated by the terrorist group,” it says.
French and Belgian authorities said on Monday a Belgian couple of Iranian origin had been arrested in Belgium on suspicion of planning the attack. The others arrested included a Vienna-based Iranian diplomat.
— AFP
People hold pictures of relatives killed by the Iranian regime during the “Free Iran 2018 – the Alternative” event on June 30, 2018, in Villepinte, north of Paris. (AFP Photo/Zakaria Abdelkafi)
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