Iranian diplomat among arrests over plan to bomb rally

AN IRANIAN diplomat was among six people arrested in connection with an alleged plot to bomb a rally in Paris that was addressed by Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump’s lawyer.

The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), an opposition group in exile, accused the Tehran government of masterminding the plan to attack its rally on Saturday.

Held in the Paris suburb of Villepinte, it drew a crowd of 25,000, including Bernard Kouchner, a former French foreign minister, and John Baird, Canada’s ex-foreign minister, and coach loads of Iranian exiles from Europe.

A Belgian couple of Iranian origin arrested in Belgium on Saturday with half a kilogram of TATP explosives and a detonator in their car, were charged yesterday with “attempted terrorist murder and preparing a terrorist crime”.

The diplomat, who is posted to the Iranian embassy in Vienna, was detained in Germany. The embassy declined to comment. Three other people were arrested in France.

The Iranian government denied any involvement.