# Six stand trial over attempted murder of Iranian activist

> The trial over the 2024 attack on Siamak Tahmasbi in Haarlem opened at Schiphol, but prosecutors have left any role of Iran out of the file.

Society · published 2026-11-06 07:24 · https://nlnow.nl/a/six-stand-trial-over-attempted-murder-of-iranian-activist/

Six suspects, five men and a woman, went on trial on Friday over the attempted murder of Iranian activist and journalist Siamak Tahmasbi in Haarlem in 2024. The case is being heard in the secure court at Schiphol, and the court has set aside eight days over the coming weeks.

The Public Prosecution Service (OM) has not included a possible role for Iran in the criminal case file. The trial will therefore not answer the question of whether Iran ordered the attack.

Two of the suspects, Mehrez A. and Gabriël O.S., are suspected of going to Tahmasbi's home on the night of 5 to 6 June 2024 to carry out the killing. The attempt failed. Tahmasbi has long been threatened because he speaks out against the Iranian regime.

The intelligence service AIVD wrote in an annual report that Iran is probably behind the attack.

Police have offered a €50,000 reward for tips on one of the six suspects, Sami B.

## Background

- **OM (Openbaar Ministerie)**: The Public Prosecution Service, which decides whether suspects are prosecuted and brings criminal cases to court.
- **AIVD (Algemene Inlichtingen- en Veiligheidsdienst)**: The Dutch General Intelligence and Security Service is the Netherlands' civilian intelligence agency, responsible for gathering and analysing information on threats to national security. It investigates matters such as espionage, politically motivated violence, and interference in Dutch society by foreign states, and it works under the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations. It publishes an annual report, which is often cited in the news when it names countries or groups it considers a threat.

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