Belgian politics is still reeling over the controversial recent visit to Brussels of the hard-line Iranian Islamist Mayor of Tehran, Alireza Zakani.
Secretary of State of the Brussels-Capital Region, Pascal Smet, has already been forced to fall on his sword but still there are many unanswered questions about what actually happened, at the federal level.
The Belgian opposition, the socialist party that is part of the government and Smet’s Vooruit party, plus the greens, remain unconvinced about protestations of innocence emanating both from the country’s Prime Minister, Alexander De Croo, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In the end, the critics point out, it was their call to give the go-ahead for the visas for the Iranian delegation’s visit to Brussels.
At the same time, Tehran is gloating about what the Iranian regime sees as a diplomatic win. The spokesman for the mayor refers to what he described as “a glorious invitation” and how the Iranian delegation in Brussels filmed those opposed to it. He referred to the opposition and Belgian parliamentarian, Darya Safai, in particular, as “anti-revolutionaries” – a term directed at what are seen by Iranian authorities as enemies of the state and, sometimes, used as a justification for the death penalty in Iran.
In a heated debate on June 21 in the Federal Parliament of Belgium, what were regarded as questionable timing over the decision to allow the visit, poor communications and apparent contradictions regarding De Croo and Foreign Affairs Minister, Hadja Lahbib, were laid bare.
One example cited was the fact that De Croo stated the visa saga played a role in a controversial prisoner swap between Belgium and Iran, while Lahbib had stated the opposite. The fact that De Croo only recently admitted to being involved in the decision-making at all raises critics’ eyebrows further.
In another case, the Iranian delegation’s visas were apparently issued on June 8, while the intelligence unit for Threat Analysis gave its advice on June 9. Belgian NGO worker Olivier Vandecasteele and two other Europeans held in prison in Iran had already been released in the swap and were back home. Critics say that, worst of all timing-wise, Lahbib granted the visas on May 10.
The Europeans were freed in return for Assadollah Assadi, an Iranian national who had been sentenced to 20 years in prison by a court in Antwerp in 2021 for plotting a failed bomb attack against an Iranian opposition group in Paris.
The parliamentary debate heard that Iranian-born Safai had insisted that, decades ago in Tehran, Zakani had been responsible for her arrest. She said that while in captivity she was blindfolded and put into an isolation cell, which observers said underscored the questionable nature of visas being granted to Zakani and his entourage. She said members of the Iranian party had filmed her in the streets of Brussels and she felt “she wasn’t safe anywhere”.
The green parties, part of the federal government, excoriated Lahbib as well. They said the visa for Zakani, “Butcher of Tehran”, was absurd and accused her of ducking any responsibility over the issue. The Flemish socialists, also part of the government, even alleged she was “telling untruths”.
Nadat Zakani en zijn delegatie terug naar Iran zijn gegaan, gaf Mohammadkhani, de woordvoerder van de stad Teheran, verslag van de gebeurtenissen in Brussel.
Hij noemt ons verschillende keren “anti-revolutionaire” groepering en hij bestempelt mij ook met die benaming, een woord… pic.twitter.com/gR82JkuXRM
— Darya Safai MP (@SafaiDarya) June 21, 2023
De Croo recently appeared to come to the aid of Lahbib, claiming his office and hers more or less forced them to act the way they did regarding issuance of the visas in order to avoid a diplomatic incident, or to humiliate Iran, especially while Belgium was negotiating the liberation of the European hostages from Iran.
Now, there is increasing doubt over such statements amid growing accusations that De Croo is simply looking for ways to save his own skin and that of Lahbib.
After Wednesday’s commission debate, it looks increasingly unlikely that the federal government will survive unscathed. Many observers believe Lahbib will, sooner rather than later, be in no position to help lead the Belgian presidency of the EU either.
