The Dutch government has accused Iran of hiring criminal gangs to murder two Iranian dissidents in the Netherlands, as the EU imposed sanctions on Tehran for a widespread campaign of assassination plots across Europe.

The EU brought sanctions against Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and two Iranian officials in response to known plots last year to kill an Iranian opposition leader in Denmark and to bomb a major opposition conference in France.

As part of the coordinated EU action, the Netherlands also revealed for the first time that it believed Iran was behind the assassinations of two Dutch citizens of Iranian origin who were both gunned down by criminal hitmen who fled in stolen BMWs.

Ahmad Mola Nissi, 52, was murdered in the Hague in November 2017 by a man who emerged from a BMW and shot him to death at his front door.

Mr Nissi was was a leader in the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahvaz, a separatist group which hopes to form a breakaway Arab state in western Iran. The group is considered a terrorist organisation by Tehran.