How Prof Vidal Quadras Landed on Tehran’s Hit List

This blacklisting came as a result of his three-decade-long support for the Iranian Resistance and his efforts to expose the malign activities of the regime.

PARIS, FARANCE, November 13, 2023 /EINPresswire.com/ — The National Council of Resistance of Iran-(NCRI) Foreign Affairs Committee in an article stated that the international media has extensively covered the shooting of Professor Alejo Vidal-Quadras, a prominent Spanish politician and dedicated human rights activist, which occurred in broad daylight in Madrid.

As Spanish law enforcement, intelligence services, and anti-terror units are diligently conducting an investigation into this assassination attempt, there are growing concerns about the involvement of the most active state sponsor of global terrorism.

The UK-based Telegraph wrote on November 9, “Police believe the shooting may have been an attempted assassination on the orders of Tehran owing to Mr Vidal-Quadras’s links to an opposition group forged during his time as an MEP. Sources told La Vanguardia, Catalonia’s biggest daily, that Mr Vidal-Quadras is believed to have been on an Iranian government hit list along with several other MEPs.”

The Local Magazine reported on November 10, “Despite his injury (a double jaw fracture), Vidal-Quadras remained conscious when he was rushed to hospital and was able to inform Spanish police who he believed was behind his shooting. Contrary to the initial belief that the assailant’s motives were linked to heightened national political tensions, Vidal-Quadras has pointed to the Iranian regime being the potential culprit.”

The Catalonia-based El Nacional wrote on November 9, “In Brussels, Vidal-Quadras came into contact for the first time with the cause of the Iranian opposition. He himself explained, as quoted by El Mundo, that in the European Parliament, the Iranian opposition movement was a recurrent topic and had a lot of support among MEPs. Vidal-Quadras committed himself to this cause and since then he has been one of the great allies of the Iranian opposition.”

On November 10, following a description of Dr. Vidal Quadras’ support of the Iranian Resistance, 20 Minutos wrote, “The truth is that Tehran has long mobilized its secret services abroad to harass those it considers ‘ enemies of the Islamic Republic’. The number of attacks and kidnappings has been growing enormously over the past three years.”

LaRazon wrote on November 10, “Since his time as Vice-President of the European Parliament (1999-2014), Vidal-Quadras has been involved with the activities of Iran’s National Council of Resistance which promotes the end of Islamist theocracy and a return to a democratic system. The politician played a decisive role in the exclusion of the People’s Mujahideen Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) from the list of terrorist organizations, and in ensuring the protection of this organization in Camp Ashraf (Iraq) and its safe and collective transfer out of Iraq.For his systematic support for the resistance of the Iranian people, Vidal Quadras had been one of the first Western politicians to be included in the list of terrorists of the ayatollahs’ regime.”

As speculations intensify regarding whether the assassination attempt had domestic or international motives, it is worth examining how Mr. Vidal Quadras became one of the greatest champions of freedom in Iran and one of the top enemies of the terrorist regime of Iran.

Engaging the Iran’s Resistance vs. its Regime

On Tuesday, October 19, 2004, Mr. Alejo Vidal Quadras, then-European Parliament’s first Vice President, met with Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, at her residence in Auvers-sur-Oise.

The meeting marked the initial foundation of a relationship that transcended mere ceremonial formalities, evolving into a passionate involvement that prompted a prominent Spanish statesman to risk his life and career by traveling to perilous locations and extending his political responsibilities beyond their original mandate.

On December 15, 2004, Dr. Vidal Quadras, along with other members of the Friends of a Free Iran Intergroup, namely MEPs Paulo Casaca and Struan Stevenson, extended an invitation to Mrs. Maryam Rajavi to speak at the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

This event was attended by approximately 150 MEPs and their aides from various parliamentary groups, including several members of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Parliament’s vice presidents, and leaders of parliamentary groups.

The purpose of the meeting was to hear Mrs. Rajavi’s perspective on the challenging issue of EU policy towards Iran and to support the Iranian people’s right to resist and overthrow the clerical dictatorship.

From that point until 2023, the initial members of the Friends of a Free Iran Intergroup, along with their successors, organized 24 meetings and conferences at the EU Parliament where they continued to invite the NCRI President-elect.

These events played a significant role in shedding light on the malign policies of the Iranian regime, including its nuclear weapons program, advancements in ballistic missiles, human rights abuses, and its agenda of destabilizing the Middle East and beyond. These efforts never went unnoticed by Tehran.

Professor Vidal Quadras played a significant role in the Iranian Resistance’s political and, more importantly, legal campaign against Western appeasement policies toward the clerical regime. His efforts were instrumental in challenging the terrorist designation of the People’s Mojahedin Organization (PMOI) in the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union.

Benefiting from the support of numerous influential allies and through relentless legal efforts in numerous courts, the PMOI successfully overcame challenges from the UK and US State Departments, as well as the EU Council, leading to its removal from all global blacklists. This development greatly infuriated Tehran.

In collaboration with numerous other MEPs, MPs, US Congress members, and Senators, Professor Vidal Quadras played a pivotal role in safeguarding the PMOI members who resided in Iraq from 2003 to 2016, where Tehran-supported militias held sway over the government in Baghdad.

As the First Vice President of the European Parliament, Professor Vidal Quadras took a bold step in 2005 by leading a delegation of MEPs to gain first-hand experience of meeting with the members of the PMOI in Ashraf.

This endeavor involved a five-day tour and extensive interactions with numerous Ashraf residents. Subsequently, the group published a comprehensive 130-page report that refuted the claims made by Human Rights Watch, which had relied on sources with ties to Iran’s regime to make false allegations against the PMOI.

In the face of numerous rocket attacks and ground assaults by Iraqi forces and militias supported by Tehran against the residents of Ashraf, Professor Vidal Quadras steadfastly championed the release of PMOI members held hostage by Iraqi forces and the secure relocation of all PMOI members to European countries. This goal was successfully achieved between 2013 and 2016, further provoking outrage in Tehran.

Since 2016, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi initiated a global campaign aimed at holding the leaders of the clerical dictatorship accountable for their involvement in the massacre of 30,000 political prisoners during the summer of 1988 in Iran.

Professor Vidal Quadras has been one of the most dedicated supporters of this initiative, using his influence to advocate with various governments, parliaments, and the United Nations for an investigation into and recognition of this significant political genocide, which stands as one of the largest such events since World War II.

Over the past two decades, Professor Vidal Quadras has been a fervent participant in numerous meetings, conferences, and parliamentary sessions, where he has lent his expertise, experience, and political influence to expose the fallacy that the world can effectively engage with a regime supporting terrorism under the guise of moderation.

The annual rallies of the Iranian Resistance, typically held in the summer, have emerged as a major focal point of these political efforts against the clerical regime. Consequently, in 2018, Tehran attempted to carry out a bombing attack during one such event with the intention of eliminating individuals like Professor Vidal Quadras and the leaders of the National Council of Resistance.

Tehran’s Warning

On October 26, 2022, the Iranian regime’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs officially designated Professor Alejo Vidal Quadras, along with other MEPs, as “supporters of terrorism and a dangerous cult.”

This blacklisting came as a result of his three-decade-long support for the Iranian Resistance and his efforts to expose the malign activities of the regime.

This accomplished Spanish policymaker, who had already achieved much in life, found himself on the hit list of one of the world’s most dangerous states, known for its history of carrying out assassinations across all continents.

In spite of this foreboding warning, Professor Vidal Quadras continued to stand firm and unwavering. For him, collaborating with the Iranian Resistance was not merely a job; it had become a life’s purpose.

On September 21, 2023, during an international conference held in Brussels, Dr. Alejo Vidal Quadras expressed himself quite frankly and passionately as he said, “I have been working alongside my dear friends Paolo Casaca and Struan Stevenson for 21 years with the PMOI and the NCRI. I visited them in Ashraf 1 in Iraq, in Ashraf 3 in Albania, and in the headquarters in Overs-sur-Oise countless times. I have shared in their sorrow as we mourned the victims of the mullahs’ criminal regime, and I celebrated with them when we achieved political success. I have lived through their joys and sorrows, hopes and disappointments, frustrations and achievements. After this incredible journey, I can proudly say that I am part of the esteemed family of the Iranian Resistance.”

” Watch the video- Gun horror in Madrid as former head of Spain’s People’s Party is ambushed and shot in the face “.Published : 14:05, 9 November 2023 By DAVID AVERRE from Daily Mail .

Shahin Gobadi
NCRI
+33 6 61 65 32 31
email us here

The 39th anniversary of the 1979 anti-monarchic revolution a special meeting in support of the Iran uprising was held in the European Parliament in Strasbourg.