Iran: France freezes assets of regime intelligence service MOIS

Iran: France freezes assets of regime intelligence service MOIS

Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Paris, France

By PMOI/MEK

Paris, Oct. 2, 2018 - The French government has frozen assets related to the Iranian regime’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS), according to authorities.

The MOIS is directly linked to the Iranian regime’s Vienna-based diplomat arrested in Germany for his role in a June bomb plot targeting a major Iranian opposition rally held in Paris. According to the French government’s Gazette daily, Asdollah Assadi is one of the two individuals whose assets have been frozen by French authorities.

Assadi personally provided a dangerous explosives device to an Iranian-Belgian couple who were missioned to carry out the specific bomb plot targeting the June rally in support of the Iranian opposition People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI).

These reports are published after AFP posted earlier about French authorities arresting 11 individuals during an anti-terrorism operation targeting a Shiite center in northern France.

This raid, said to be conducted to prevent future terrorist operations, targeted the “Zahra Center” in the town of Grande Synthe of France. Three of the 11 arrested individuals have been placed under temporary detention.

This raid, beginning at 6 am Tuesday morning local time, was carried out by 200 police agents who also placed the residence of this religious center’s officials under surveillance.

The Zahra Center is responsible for directing and supporting a number of Shiite associations. French officials believe these associations are suspected of being involved in activities aimed at legitimizing and supporting terrorist organizations backed by the Iranian regime, such as Hamas and the Lebanese Hezbollah.

Prior to these latest developments, the French government had called on its diplomats to refrain from any unnecessary traveling to Iran. Paris has also refrained from appointing a new ambassador to Tehran until the Iranian regime provides explanations regarding the June bomb plot in Paris.

Three senior French ministers issued the following statement:

Joint press release by Gérard Collomb, Jean-Yves Le Drian and Bruno Le Maire (02.10.18)

An attempt to attack was foiled at Villepinte on June 30th.

This act of extreme gravity envisaged on our territory could not remain unanswered.

By order of 2 October 2018 of the Minister of State, Minister of the Interior and the Minister of Economy and Finance and without prejudice to the results of the criminal action taken against the initiators, the authors and accomplices of this project France haven taken targeted and proportionate preventive measures in the form of the adoption of the national freezing measures of the assets of Assadollah Asadi and Saeid Hashemi Moghadam, two Iranian nationals, as well as the Directorate of Internal Security of the country, Ministry of Intelligence and Security of Iran.

In taking this decision, France reiterates its determination to fight terrorism, especially in its own territory.

“The foiled attack in Villepinte confirms the need for a demanding approach in our relations with Iran,” said Jean-Yves Le Drian.

Gerard Collomb reaffirms his "determination to do everything possible to prevent any form of terrorism, wherever it comes from.”

Bruno Le Maire emphasizes that "we must dry up the financing channels of terrorists in order to put an end to their intolerable acts. We are acting firmly at the national level and we continue to strengthen the arrangements at the international level."

Read more:

A terrorist diplomat of the clerical regime by the name of Asdollah Assadi, who was the main planner of the terrorist plot against the great gathering of Iranians in Paris, was arrested in Germany. The terrorist diplomat, who is the station chief of the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) in Vienna, has been stationed in Austria since August 2014.

The two arrested terrorists are Amir Sadoni and Nassim Nomeni and are residents of Antwerp.

Prior to Asadollah Assadi, an individual by the name of Mostafa Roudaki was the MOIS station chief in the regime’s embassy in Austria. Roudaki was transferred to Tehran and was subsequently dispatched to Albania in 2017 as the MOIS station chief there to plot against the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran.

The Iranian Resistance once again reiterates the need to shut down the Iranian regime’s embassies and representative offices in Europe as centers of espionage and terrorism and expel the agents of the Ministry of Intelligence and the terrorist Quds Force from European countries.