*BRUSSELS/PARIS: An Iranian diplomat has been arrested along with twopeople suspected of plotting a bomb attack on a meeting of an exiledIranian opposition group in France attended by Donald Trump’s lawyer RudyGiuliani, Belgian authorities said on Monday.*

Three other arrests were made in France but two of them were later released.

Several former European and Arab ministers also attended the meeting of theParis-based National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) – an umbrellabloc of opposition groups in exile that seek an end to Shi’ite Muslimclerical rule in Iran.Iran’s foreign minister called the news a sinister “false flag ploy” andsaid Tehran was ready to work with all concerned parties to get to thebottom of it.

Two suspects in Belgium were intercepted by Belgian police on Saturday,with 500 grams of TATP, a home-made explosive produced from easilyavailable chemicals, as well as a detonation device found in their car, ajoint statement by the Belgian prosecutor and the intelligence servicessaid.

The 38-year-old man and a 33-year-old woman, identified only as Amir S. andNasimeh N., were charged with attempted terrorist murder and preparation ofa terrorist act, it said.

The diplomat at the Iranian embassy in the Austrian capital Vienna wasarrested in Germany, the Belgian statement said. Iranian President HassanRouhani is due to visit Austria on Wednesday.

Three people of Iranian origin were arrested in France to assess their linkto the Brussels’ suspects, a French judicial source said. Two were releaseddue to a lack of evidence against them while the third was held forquestioning, the source said.

“How convenient: Just as we embark on a presidential visit to Europe, analleged Iranian operation and its ‘plotters’ arrested,” Foreign MinisterMohammad Javad Zarif tweeted.

“Iran unequivocally condemns all violence & terror anywhere, and is readyto work with all concerned to uncover what is a sinister false flag ploy.”