The Diplomat
The investigation opened by the police into the shooting of ex-politician Alejo Vidal-Quadras yesterday in the middle of the street in Madrid is looking into the possible link with Iran, sources confirmed to Europa Press.
According to ‘El País’, Vidal-Quadras himself, once stabilised in hospital, indicated that the attack could be linked to his relations with the Iranian opposition. Sources consulted by Europa Press confirmed that they are already working on this hypothesis.
Initially, the investigation was undertaken by the Homicide Group of the Madrid Police Headquarters, with the support of specialists from the Scientific Police, but after the enquiries that point to an order, agents from the Provincial Information Brigade have also joined the investigation, police sources report.
The 78-year-old ex-politician, former president of the Catalan PP who later joined Vox, was urgently hospitalised after being shot in the face at 1.30 p.m. at number 40 Núñez de Balboa street.
Since late yesterday morning, the search has been on for a man who fired the shot, who approached Vidal-Quadras on foot, covering his face with a helmet, and then fled on a motorbike with a second person, apparently a woman. The police are analysing a burnt motorbike that was found in Fuenlabrada (Madrid) to see if it is related to the incident.
The bullet caused an entry and exit wound at the level of the jaw, although Vidal-Quadras was conscious and bleeding profusely when he was attended to by the emergency services. He was then taken to hospital, where he underwent life-threatening surgery.
According to initial police investigations and eyewitness accounts, the gunman left the scene on foot and turned into a street near Núñez de Balboa, where another person – apparently a woman – was waiting for him, both of them to flee on a motorbike.
A year ago, the Iranian Foreign Ministry accused Vidal-Quadras of “supporting terrorism and terrorist groups and spreading violence and hatred” for his contacts with the People’s Mujahedin Organisation of Iran, a group opposed to the Ayatollahs’ regime. When he was an MEP, Vidal-Quadras played a key role in getting the movement off the EU list of terrorist organisations.
