Spring of freedom

INU- Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok recently revealed the role that the Iranian Regime played in two assassinations that took place in 2015 and 2017 in the Netherlands. The Dutch Foreign Ministry said in a statement it had “strong indications that Iran was involved in the assassinations” but that it kept the matter hidden “in the interests of facilitating this common EU action against Iran”. In 2018, the Dutch government also expelled two Iranian diplomats from the country but refused to say whether the decision was linked to the assassinations. This led to the first EU sanctions against the Iranian Regime since the 2015 nuclear deal was signed three years ago, which were welcomed by an Iranian Resistance group, the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK). The MEK said in a statement that this is a “positive but important step in the face of the regime’s state terrorism”. You see, this was no rogue agent ordering an isolated hit. It is simply how the Iranian R...

The 'Ashraf 3' Conference in Albania, on 25 November 2018. [Handout photo] The EU High Representative Federica Mogherini’s response to the series of Iranian terror plots on European soil has been a total silence, writes Jaromír Štětina. Jaromír Štětina MEP, is a Czech journalist, writer and politician. He was a war correspondent for the conflict areas of the former Soviet Union. He is currently Vice-Chair of Subcommittee on Security and Defence in the European Parliament Last week, together with colleague MEP Tunne Kelam, and former MEP Struan Stevenson,  I visited “Ashraf 3”  the new site of the Iranian democratic opposition PMOI (MEK) in Albania outside Tirana. This visit was truly an inspiring journey and an eye-opener to how misinformation and fake news can deceive the general public about the reality when states like Iran use their vast financial resources to divert the truth. Nearly 3000 members of Iranian democratic opposition, many of whom have dedicated...