Alejo Vidal-Quadras Roca – Biography
Born in Barcelona (1945).
MS. in Physics (1968). Ph.D. in Physics (1975).
Associate Professor of Atomic and Nuclear Physics at the UAB (1981-1988).
Director of the Laboratory of Radiation Physics at the UAB (1984-1992).
Professor of Atomic and Nuclear Physics at UAB (1988–2004). Member of the Catalan Parliament (1988-1999).
President of the People’s Party of Catalonia (1991-1996). Barcelona City Council (1991-1995).
Senator and Chairman of the Education and Culture Committee of the Spanish Senate (1995-1999).
Member of the European Parliament (1999–2014).
Member of the European Parliament’s Committee on Industry and Energy (1999-2014).
Vice-President of the European Parliament (1999-2014).
President of the International Committee in Search of Justice (2014-). Member of the Advisory Board of European Family Businesses (since 2015).
Officer of the French Legion of Honour. Commander with Star of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland.
Member of the Order of Friendship of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Lecturer in Spain on European institutions and policies in MBAs and other postgraduate programs in public affairs, public administration and international relations (since 2001).
Regular participant in talk shows on political analysis on El Toro TV (since 2006).
Columnist of the digital newspaper Voz Populi (2017-present).
Assassination Attempt on the Life of ISJ President Prof. Alejo Vidal-Quadras
Veteran Spanish politician Prof. Alejo Vidal-Quadras, Vice-President of the European Parliament until 2014 and President of the International Committee in Search of Justice (ISJ), was shot in the face in broad daylight on a central street in Madrid on Thursday, November 9, 2023.1 Dr. Vidal Quadras made his first public appearance on February 23, 2024 at the Madrid Press Club, where dozens of journalists were present.
A police source with insider knowledge of the investigation told The Associated Press that 78-year-old Vidal-Quadras said he believed the Iranian regime was behind the assassination. According to media reports, he said: “I have only one enemy and that is the Iranian regime”.
In January 2023, Iran’s Foreign Ministry announced sanctions against Vidal-Quadras, making him one of the first politicians to be blacklisted by Iran for his support of the opposition.
Several parliamentarians and dignitaries, known to have also supported the Iranian opposition, some of whom have been blacklisted by the regime, issued statements condemning the cowardly attack on Vidal-Quadras and calling for a firm policy towards the mullahs’ regime. Some even called for the closure of the regime’s embassies, which are the logistical center of terrorism.
On the day of the attack, the assailant approached Prof. Vidal-Quadras and shot him in the face at point-blank range. Fortunately, he turned his head just in time, causing the bullet to pierce his jaw instead. The attacker’s firearm subsequently jammed, forcing him to flee. This assailant was part of a criminal organization known as Macro Mafia, which was contracted by a regime. After an extensive international manhunt, Spanish police successfully apprehended the assailant and seven members of the terrorist ring involved in this plot and established links between them and the Iranian regime.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez expressed his concern: “All my warmth is with him and his family at this moment.”
Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said in a statement that the incident was a “cowardly attack” on Vidal-Quadras and wished him a speedy and full recovery. She condemned the act as “unacceptable violence against a political representative of an important European nation”.
The then-EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell sympathized with Vidal-Quadras and wished him a speedy recovery.
The leader of the People’s Party, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, condemned the shooting and wished Vidal-Quadras a speedy recovery.
The Italian Foreign Minister and other deputies expressed their sympathy for the ISJ president and called for an immediate investigation into the shooting.
23 Members of the European Parliament also made a statement. “We strongly condemn this cowardly act of terrorism and call on the Spanish authorities to launch a thorough investigation. Those responsible for planning and carrying out this heinous attack must be named and prosecuted without reservation or political expediency. Given the nature of the Iranian regime, its well-known hostility and repeated threats against Dr. Vidal-Quadras, the Iranian regime should be considered the prime suspect in today’s terrorist attempt on his life,” they wrote.
The British Committee for a Free Iran, which includes several dozen members of the House of Commons and the House of Lords, made a similar statement, as did similar groups of parliamentarians and political dignitaries in other European countries such as France, Italy, etc.
Struan Stevenson, a former Scottish MEP and colleague of Dr. Vidal-Quadras in the ISJ, wrote: “The horrific assassination attempt on my dear friend Alejo Vidal-Quadras in Madrid is an outrageous expression of the Iranian regime’s sense of impunity in Europe.”
The Sunflowers Case: The petty criminal, the attempted assassination and the shadow cast by Iran
