The Saudis were also billed for demonstrations by the separatist movement ASMLA.
The financing of the TV channel and at least one
demonstration in The Hague is apparent from research by Argos, the Danish
public broadcaster DR and the Norwegian NRK.
The Denmark-based leadership of the Arab-Iranian movement
ASMLA requested and received large sums through the Saudi intelligence service
for its organization in Europe and its armed branch in Iran. The ASMLA – Arab
Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahwaz - fights against oppression of
the Arab minority in the Iranian region of Khuzestan and for independence.
ASMLA leader Habib Jabor and two other leaders were found
guilty of spying and financing terrorism in Iran after months-long closed-door
trial in Denmark. However, many details have not been disclosed. A journalistic
investigation made it clear that the group also spied against people in the
Netherlands, including the well-known activist Abdullah Mansouri.
Last autumn, the Rotterdam court convicted another ASMLA
member, presenter and manager of Ahwazna TV Eisa S. from Delft. Despite
denials, he was jailed for four years for coordinating and financing attacks in
Iran in conjunction with the Danish ASMLA leaders.
The Arab-Iranian separatist movement ASMLA has secretly
collected information for the Saudi intelligence service about a large number
of people in Europe, including the Netherlands. Among them is the Dutch-Iranian
activist Faleh Abdullah al-Mansouri.
Ahwazna TV
Satellite channel Ahwazna TV of ASMLA has been based in
Rijswijk since 2017 and calls for a fight against the Iranian 'occupier'. The
channel even brought news of attacks that ASMLA was probably behind. An example
is the liquidation of two alleged members of the Revolutionary Guards on a
motorcycle on November 12, 2018 in Abadan. This action was filmed and published
through Ahwazna TV's social media channels.
In app conversations between Eisa S., ASMLA leader Habib
Jabor and a contact person 'Issi' in Iran, the attackers are called 'our boys',
it is about the amounts that the perpetrators have received and it is stated
that the attack should be breaking news.
Of a total budget for ASMLA of more than seven million euros
for the period 2017-19, about 1.2 million was earmarked for Ahwazna TV in the
Netherlands, according to police documents that were viewed by journalists from
DR in collaboration with Argos and NRK. The TV channel is one of the targets
for which funding has been sought through liaison officers from the Saudi
intelligence agency GIP. While it cannot be ruled out that part of the final
budget came from other donors, the Danish court has assumed that ASMLA did in
fact receive "significant sums" from the Saudis in response to these
applications.
Response
Ahwazna TV says in a response to Argos that Iranian media
are behind the allegations and that they have 'unfortunately' been taken over
by the Danish prosecutor. The station says it has never promoted terrorism. The
TV station reportedly only reported on the situation in Iran: "There are
daily crimes against the Arabs, the original population of Ahwaz, by the
Iranian regime."
Ahwazna TV said the channel "must be silenced as it has
become a source of disruption to Iran." According to Ahwazna TV, the
amount of 1.2 million euros cannot be correct, because the channel uses
volunteers and second-hand equipment. The broadcasts from the Netherlands would
have been suspended in the meantime. The Saudi embassy in the Netherlands has
not responded to a request for a hearing.
In Denmark, Ahwazna TV has been banned for two years because
the channel 'has grossly broken the law by showing programs that promote both
direct and indirect terrorism'.
Demonstrations
ASMLA also organized demonstrations in Europe against Iran
and for the Ahwaz cause. For this, the ASMLA leadership also requested funding
from Saudi Arabia and a budget was drawn up. Money was needed for plane
tickets, hotels, buses and allowances for journalists. Refugees from asylum
seekers centers also had to be paid to participate. That would have cost 60
euros per person. Arab news channels were promised to report.
Police documents mention an amount of 400 thousand euros,
including 190 thousand euros for a demonstration in The Hague and 80 thousand
for a demonstration in Copenhagen. The communication dates from late 2014 and
early 2015. In 2015, there were manifestations of ASMLA in Copenhagen and
Brussels, among others, and in 2016 at the International Criminal Court in The
Hague, where Eisa S. and Habib Jabor were present.
Armed Branch
Despite public statements approving and even claiming
responsibility for attacks in Iran, it has long remained unclear whether ASMLA
leaders in Europe themselves had a hand in violence. Significant is a tapped
board meeting of ASMLA in February 2020. There it was discussed that it would
be better to refrain from aggressive and violent statements from now on,
because the Danish authorities and international partners would no longer
tolerate this. When asked 'does this mean that we should put aside the armed
struggle', Habib Jabor answers that this is not the case, but that 'there must
be a new definition'.
Chat conversations between the ASMLA leaders, Eisa S. and
individuals in Iran explicitly discussed targets, payments, recruiting perpetrators,
purchasing weapons and filming attacks. 'If you can hit them and shoot the film
well and there will be deaths, then help will come for you that is unimaginable
to you,' said Eisa, for example, to his contact person 'Issi' in Iran. In 2018,
in particular, there was a series of bank arson attacks and attacks associated
with ASMLA in the Iranian region of Khuzestan. The Danish criminal case showed
that converted at least 2 million euros was obtained from Saudi Arabia for the
armed branch of ASMLA.
Hunt for ASMLA Leaders
Tehran has accused ASMLA and Saudi Arabia of terrorism for
years and repeatedly asked the Dutch and Danish governments to intervene.
Meanwhile, Iran was hunting for ASMLA leaders. In the Netherlands, co-founder
Ahmad Mola Nissi was shot dead in The Hague in 2017, although he had already
broken up with Habib Jabor's group in 2015, precisely because of Saudi Arabia's
influence on the group. An assassination attempt on Jabor in Denmark was
narrowly thwarted in September 2018. Habib Chaab from Sweden was lured to
Turkey in 2020 and kidnapped to Iran. An investigation by Argos in 2019 showed
that Iranian spies had great interest in Ahwazna TV in Rijswijk. Eisa S.'s life
may have even been in danger.
