Belgian court to rule in case of Iran diplomat

A Belgian court on Thursday is to rule in a case involving an Iranian diplomat on trial for involvement in a foiled bomb plot on French soil in 2018.

Four defendants were on trial in an Antwerp court accused of planning and preparing the attack on an event held by an exiled Iranian group and attended by thousands of people.

The prosecutor has called for prison sentences ranging up to 20 years.

Investigators say that, had the attack gone ahead, it could have resulted in numerous deaths and injuries.

The trial is particularly controversial due to the presence among the defendants of a man accredited as a diplomat at the Iranian embassy in Vienna at the time of the crime.

Investigators say the Iranian diplomat, identified as Asadollah A, is believed to be an employee of the Iranian intelligence ministry MOIS, whose tasks include monitoring and combating opposition groups inside and outside Iran.

It is, therefore, considered possible that the attack plans were based on direct government order.