Iranian diplomat given maximum 20-yr sentence for terrorism in Belgium

An Iranian diplomat accused of planning to bomb a meeting of an exiled opposition group was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Thursday in the first trial of an Iranian official for suspected terrorism in the European Union since Iran's 1979 revolution.

Belgian prosecution lawyers and civil parties to the prosecution said Vienna-based diplomat Assadolah Assadi was found guilty of attempted terrorism after a plot to bomb a rally of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) near Paris in June 2018 was foiled by German, French and Belgian police.