Veteran Spanish right-wing politician Alejo Vidal-Quadras is currently in stable condition in a hospital after he was shot in the face on a central Madrid street on Thursday (November 9).
Police have indicated that they were investigating any possible lead as to why the former politician was shot, including a possible link to his ties with the Iranian opposition.
Officials from Madrid's Gregorio Marañon Hospital later said Vidal-Quadras would need to undergo surgery as the gunshot wound fractured his jawbone.
Shot in the Face
The 78-year-old former conservative politician of both the right-wing Popular Party (PP) and the extreme-right Vox was attacked near his Madrid home and was reported to be conscious when he was taken to hospital by emergency crews.
The shooter was last seen wearing a black helmet and fleeing the scene on a motorbike alongside an accomplice.
A charred motorbike found later in the day in a suburban town on the outskirts of Madrid was being investigated.
Iranian Connection?
While there was no evidence yet backing the Iranian link, an unnamed police source close to the investigation confirmed to the Associated Press that Vidal-Quadras himself had raised the suspicion from his hospital bed and that investigators were looking into it as one of several possible motives.
Another official added that a provincial brigade handling terrorism and extremism cases had joined in the investigation late Thursday night.
Both officials spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity to protect the secrecy of the inquiries.
In January, the Iranian Foreign Ministry announced it imposed sanctions on Vidal-Quadras and other individuals who had ties with the exiled opposition group called the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq (MEK), accusing them of "supporting terrorism and terrorist groups."
The MEK began as a Marxist organization opposing the rule of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in the 1970s. It claimed - and was suspected of - a series of attacks against US officials in Iran in the 1970s, which was something the group now denied.
Last September, Vidal-Quadras addressed a conference organized by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), one of the organizations under the MEK, criticizing European Union officials for not being strong enough in opposing Iran's theocratic regime and supporting the exiled opposition.
The MEK also paid former US and European officials to speak at their summits in the past.
"The Iranian Resistance sees Iran's ruling religious fascism as the first suspect accused in this case, as Prof. Vidal-Quadras has dedicated an important part of his life to fight against it," MEK leader Maryam Rajavi wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
