elected twelve years ago. scientists behind the first covid vaccine to be successful in early trials say its full impact will be felt next year — but warn of a hard winter ahead. the side effects of statins may be down to patient anxiety and have nothing to do with what's in them — according to a new study the uk's chief brexit negotiator insists he won't be changing course ahead of a crucial week in trade talks with the eu. and farewell to one of our best known entertainers — des o'connor has died at the age of 88. now on bbc news — our world. five years ago, an electrician

called ali motamed was shot and killed in almere, just outside amsterdam. it looked like a professional hit job — but why would anyone want to assassinate a seemingly innocent electrician? jiyar gol follows a trail of destruction across europe in a story of spies, lies and geopolitics, with a string of extraordinary twists. a warning this film contains scenes which some viewers may find upsetting. the american assassination of iran's top general earlier this year set the world on edge. qasem soleimani commanded the shadowy quds force. tehran has vowed to take revenge. the iranian regime can strike anywhere. for the past two years, i have been investigating bomb plots and assassinations on european soil.

what concerns me, in this city an assassination was conducted. the trail of destruction leads from denmark to the netherlands. we saw my dad lying on the ground covered in his blood. this is the extraordinary story of iran and the mystery murders. my investigation starts here, in the small dutch city of almere, near amsterdam. one quiet morning, five years ago, two hit men lie in wait. shots ring out, killing their target instantly.

the assassins escape in a stolen black bmw, later found abandoned and burned out just a few blocks away. the victim was a middle—aged electrician, but who was he, and why did he have to die? normally, assassinations are one criminal assassinating another criminal, but this time it was an electrician. that is why i kept asking questions. how come? paul vughts is an investigative journalist known for his inside stories on amsterdam's gang violence and drugs trade. his assassination was a big surprise for the police, and so people thought maybe he was in the world of growing weed, hashish, maybe as an electrician, if you grow weed and need electricity and power and don't want to be seen. so that was the first thought. but there was no evidence

of any drugs linked. then a few months later, the police released the victim's name and a photograph. he was a 56—year—old iranian called ali motamed. this was the street where ali motamed lived. those who knew him, they say he was a family man. but what they didn't know was that he was being watched by two men sitting in a car for days. cctv recordings appear to show ali motamed's white van and repeated appearances by the assassins‘ black bmw. but why would professional hit men target a seemingly innocent electrician? this man is an iranian dissident, who lives in the netherlands.

in the dutch iranian community, there were rumours that the victim had a dark past. and investigative journalist paul vught was hearing the same thing. someone tipped me that the victim of the assassination was called ali motamed, was not really ali motamed but was mr kolahi. paul vught was right. within hours of the killing, ali motamed's wife told police he had another identity. his real name was mohammad—reza kolahi samadi. he was considered both a terrorist and a wanted man by the iranian regime. in 1981, a massive bomb destroyed

the headquarters of the iranian regime's ruling party, killing more than 70 people, including high—ranking officials. the bombing was carried out by the mek, a dissident faction that launched deadly attacks against the iranian regime and is still considered its sworn enemy. saeed shahsavandi was a senior member of the mek at the time, and he knew kolahi samadi, or ali motamed, personally.

iran's revolutionary court sentenced kolahi samadi to death in absentia. in 1991, kolahi cut his ties to the mek and claimed asylum in the netherlands. he changed his name to ali motamed, got married, and settled down to what he thought would be a quiet life in almere. so could the iranian regime have ordered his killing? local politicians here were horrified at the prospect. everybody is keeping their mouths shut. what concerns me in this city, though, an assassination was conducted, maybe by a foreign country. this is of course, people deserve to know what happened and especially of course iranian dissidents. of course i can imagine they are frightened now. two months after the assassination,

a dutch intelligence officer contacted the dutch—iranian human rights activist, morteza sadeghi, with a warning for other iranian dissidents living in the netherlands. but within months, there was another murder. in november 2017, iranian dissident ahmad mola nissi, was walking home in the hague. two men in a black bmw were following him. one got out of the car and shot

nissi at point—blank range. this mobile footage apparently shows killers escaping. nissi died on the spot. his daughter, hawra, was home at the time. i went downstairs with my brothers and sisters and my mum and we saw my dad lying on the ground, covered in his blood. it was very difficult, very shocking, even to this moment. it is something that i wish nobody can experience. ahmad mola nissi was the leader of the asmla, a separatist group

fighting for a homeland for the iran's arab minority. iran regards it as a terrorist group. he was threatened a couple of times. who threatened him, we don't know. we don't have any information. but we know that, as a charismatic leader, he brought all the ahwazi resistance group together. he was a target for his enemies inside iran and outside iran. so, within months of each other, there were two mysterious murders where the victims were both opponents of the iranian regime. the matter of the fact is they were both assassinated mafia—style. there was a bmw, i think it was a hit—style by proxy. i think professional criminal organisations were hired to do the assassination. who did the formal order is unclear yet, but there are some indications that the state of iran was responsible. in early 2018, dutch police arrested

two associates of this man, amsterdam crime boss naoufal fassih, in connection with the first killing, that of ali motamed. those who had followed the case were baffled at first. from what i understand from the police investigation, there are no ties or connections whatsoever connecting this man to criminal activity, money—laundering, drugs. nothing. naoufal fassih and his associates were found guilty of ali motamed's murder. the prosecution claimed the hit men were each played 10,000 euros for pulling the trigger, and naoufal fassih got 130,000 euros for organising the killing but he refused to say who had paid him. if that kind of money is paid to a criminal organisation

for an assassination, for a probable political assassination, that is a clear indication of state sponsorship. the eu stayed silent on any links between the murders and iran. in 2015, it had helped negotiate a major deal with iran to limit its nuclear ambitions. the priority that the european powers gave to preserving the nuclear deal above all other outstanding issues, which includes iranian activities on european soil, really gave tehran a bargaining chip because each time it stepped out of line, such as activities in europe, you know, terror plots, assassinations, europe would bite its tongue. but in the summer of 2018, donald trump announced the us was walking away from the nuclear deal, and a key trump lieutenant had no problem with calling out iran in public. the iranian quds force conducts covert assassination operations in the heart of europe.

something was about to happen, which would add fuel to the fire. in the summer of 2018, the anti—iranian government mek's annual conference opened just outside paris. the group was still pushing for regime change in iran, and by now, they had won some powerful friends, including members of president trump's inner circle. thank god my president turned his back on that very dangerous agreement with iran! butjust as the conference opened, belgian police acted to stop what they said with a plot to bomb the event, masterminded by iran. france has accused iran of attempting to set offa bomb in paris... an iranian—belgian couple that was with explosives in their car... a couple were arrested at the scene, allegedly with a detonator and half a kilogram of explosive.

this man, assadollah assadi, a serving iranian diplomat based in vienna was later detained in germany. the foreign minister of iran took to twitter to deny any involvement and suggested it was fake news. four people, including assadi and the couple, will stand trial in belgium on terrorism charges this month. they are expected to deny the charges. by now, the allegations of iranian involvement in terror attacks in europe were out in the open, and i was on the trail of the story. in september 2018, gunmen opened fire on a military parade in the iranian city of ahvaz, killing around 25 and injuring 60.

the iranian regime blamed arab ahwazi separatists, and its foreign minister promised to hit back hard. now, the plot thickened in an unexpected place — denmark. reporter: it was one of the most visible manhunts in denmark in decades. reporter: ..iranian nationals over alleged assassination plots in denmark and france. after a tip—off, the danes shut down major bridges and motorways as they hunted for a terrorist suspect. at the time, denmark's intelligence chief told me why. the case you're talking about is a highly unusual case and in my view a very serious case. in brief, it involves iranian intelligence activities in denmark and, in our assessment, aimed at planning an assassination of a person living in denmark.

the target of the assassination attempt was a leader of the asmla, the ahwazi separatist group. until now, the eu had said nothing about iran's alleged involvement in terror attacks on european soil, but events forced their hand. they imposed targeted sanctions on iran's intelligence ministry. the dutch went further. intelligence we've got from our intelligence service was so strong that it made us decide to expel two iranian diplomats. the european country tolerated iranian activities on european soil because the nuclear deal with iran and the economic benefits of it were more important for them, is that the case? that is nonsense. the question is — you waited so long? the activities we are speaking about now, murdering or trying to murderformer iranian nationals on european soil, are unacceptable. at the same time, we think

the nuclear deal was, and still is, a just measure to avoid nuclear proliferation in the middle east. supporters of iran blame rogue elements inside the regime for trying to undermine the government. i would be really sorry for my country when my supreme leader, my president, the national security council, the parliament, they all decide to build an excellent relationship with europe, and some rogue elements, they undo. but you cannot blame the government, the state. we can very, very confidently assert that any activity beyond iran's borders, whether that is terrorist activity, the assassination of political dissidents, that will have

come from top—down. iran's regime is, afterall, an authoritarian regime. it is very tightly controlled. and all of these activities are very, very well—planned, carefully co—ordinated and executed, using the iranian state's privileges abroad. for almost a year, the trail went cold. then, in november 2019, i received a tip—off about a threat against another iranian dissident, based in the netherlands. i'm on my way to a tv station in the hague. one of the presenters has been threatened. he is under the dutch police protection. hidden away in these backstreets are the anonymous studios of ahwazna tv. it broadcasts to iran's minority

arab population and has close links to the asmla group. their message is uncompromising. they want an independent homeland for iranian arabs and actively encourage people to rise up against the regime in tehran. eissa al—fakher hosts their most popular programme. it is called "my words are my sword". his links to the asmla have placed his life in real danger.

raghdan al—khazali was an iraqi journalist based in sweden and someone eissa al—fakher knew well.

the iranian threat was seen as so serious, eissa and his colleagues were issued with panic buttons. his story was confirmed by the swedish authorities. in december 2019, raghdan al—khazali was jailed in stockholm for 2.5 years for carrying out hostile surveillance on behalf of the iranian regime. the court that said his activities may have caused a number

of opposition ahwazis or their relatives to be persecuted, seriously injured or killed. the evidence against iran was beginning to mount. in denmark, this summer, a man was convicted of events linked to the police manhunt in 2018 that shut denmark's roads and bridges. he was found guilty of spying for iran and an accessory to murder and jailed for seven years. the man who was convicted is now appealing. but in another extraordinary twist, the targets of his espionage were themselves charged by danish authorities with spying for saudi arabia. they deny the charges

and are awaiting trial. now, we have discovered that eissa al—fakher, the man with the panic button, has himself been arrested in the netherlands and charged with planning an act of terrorism in iran. he denies the charges and is in prison, awaiting trial. two years ago, i set out to investigate two mysterious murders with links to iran at a time few wanted to talk to me. now, a serving iranian diplomat is about to go on trial for terrorism offences, and there have been a series of other convictions across europe. this extraordinary story still has a long way to run.

something ever to acquire for monday, a mild first few days for the week but significantly colder as the week but significantly colder as the beacons to an end. this is the low that brought the wet and windy weather to the weekend. 0n low that brought the wet and windy weather to the weekend. on monday, there is a brief ridge of high pressure. that will mean lighter winds and overall a lighter day. we still sit effectively to the south of the jet stream, so relatively mild atlantic area. pushing the low up mild atlantic area. pushing the low up to the north, all the way through to the middle part of the week. this is what it will look like on the

ground. for monday, possiblya bit of cloud at times but also some glimmers of sunshine. the biggest difference of the weekend is for the majority of the uk, daylight hours will be dry. the next frontal system sta rts will be dry. the next frontal system starts to move on, temperatures typically 11 or 12 degrees. the weather front pushes across the uk, bringing rain into many areas to monday evening and overnight into tuesday. but by tuesday morning, the low pressure to the north of the uk will still be extending a front into scotla nd will still be extending a front into scotland and northern ireland, but much of england and wales will be dry on tuesday. when the sun does come out, it will be such mild air that temperatures could shoot up to 15 or 16 degrees. with some shelter across eastern scotland, we could see similarfigures as across eastern scotland, we could see similar figures as well. rain will be more persistent across western scotland. free tuesday and on into wednesday, because the frontal system tends to stall here. the rainfall figures could mean the

highest ground could see up to 50 millimetres. the front starts to dig itself south on wednesday. england and wales still managing to sit in mild airwith and wales still managing to sit in mild air with some sunshine in the south—east up to 17 degrees on wednesday. turin the west as the band of rain present. —— cooler in the west. high pressure starts to squeeze in on the west, and what that does is start to move us to the northerly side of the jet stream, and we pick up a northerly breeze on thursday. 0verall with the high—pressure influence, we lose a lot of the active weather, but we could see punchy showers pushing their way south across the uk. 0n their way south across the uk. 0n the northerly wind, the air is cold enough for some snow across scotland. there could be rain across england and wales where the showers do appear. back in the wind, you could not a few degrees of the temperature. pressure with us

overnight thursday and into friday. clear skies, light winds, overnight thursday and into friday. clearskies, light winds, if overnight thursday and into friday. clear skies, light winds, if ruston we move into friday morning. perhaps with the exception —— some frost. the bigger question is how this will materialise and how final it will push, but there could transiently be a little bit of watery weather, some sleet or snow. for friday, one thing we are confident in is that it will bea we are confident in is that it will be a calderdale than we are used to buy a long. next weekend, we almost move back to the start. looking u nsettled, move back to the start. looking unsettled, but our temperatures should return closer to average values. plenty going on in the next seven days.

this is bbc news. self—isolating but showing no symptoms of coronavirus — prime minister boris johnson is under orders from nhs track and trace after meeting an mp who later tested positive. the former us president barack 0bama tells the bbc that america is more divided today than when he first ran for office 12 years ago. some of that is attributable to our current president, who actively fanned division because he felt it was good for his politics. scientists behind the first covid vaccine to be successful in early trials say its full impact will be felt next year, but warn of a hard winter ahead.