The leader of an Iranian opposition group who shot dead in The Hague in 2017, had warned Dutch police his life was in danger at least seven times prior to his murder, the Volkskrant reported on Tuesday.

Ahmad Mola Nissi, who was active in the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahwaz (ASMLA), was shot in November 2017 and had lived in the Netherlands for 10 years prior to his killing.

The ASMLA is campaigning for the independence of the eastern province of Ahwaz (Khuzistan) in Iran and is classed as a terrorist organisation by Iran but not the EU.

The 2017 police report, which the VK has seen, makes it clear that Nissi had been threatened and intimidated for years and had repeatedly informed the police, with little result, the paper said.

His family is currently holding the Dutch state responsible for his death.

Another Iranian dissident was murdered in 2015 and in 2018, the Netherlands ordered two Iranians to leave the country without giving a reason. In 2019, however, the then foreign minister Stef Blok admitted that the AIVD security service had ‘strong evidence’ Iran was behind the killings.