Dutch intelligence accuses Iran of assassination attempt on dissident

The Dutch AIVD intelligence on Thursday accused Iran of staging an “assassination attempt” on an Iranian living in the country.

An Iranian man residing in the northern city of Haarlem saw two men climb onto his balcony in the dead of the night in June last year and police intervened to arrest two suspects, according to the AIVD.

The pair were in contact with a third person, who issued instructions by telephone, the agency added.

“On the basis of intelligence, it is probable that Iran is responsible for assassination attempts,” the AIVD said in its annual report.

The incident “illustrates the threat that foreign regimes can pose” in the Netherlands, it added.

Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp summoned Iran’s ambassador to seek an explanation, a ministry spokesperson told the NOS public broadcaster.

One of the two detained was also suspected of involvement in attempting to kill Spanish right-wing politician Alejo Vidal-Quadras, a supporter of the Iranian opposition who was shot in Madrid on November 9, 2024.

A founder of Spain’s far-right Vox party, Vidal-Quadras accuses Iran of being behind the motorcycle drive-by shooting, which took place in broad daylight near his home in the Spanish capital.

“Both assassination attempts are part of the method Iran has been using for many years: using criminal networks in Europe to silence suspected opponents of the regime,” the AIVD report said.

In 2019, The Netherlands accused Tehran of involvement in the murder of two dissidents on Dutch soil in 2015 and 2017.

Those accusations led to the expulsion of two Iranian diplomats.

The AIVD report said the security service was assessing potential threats to a NATO summit to be held in the Netherlands this year.