Strong criticism after receiving the mayor of Tehran in Brussels: “Put up a poster of Vandecasteele last month, now invite his kidnappers to town hall” | Interior

Mayor Alireza Zakani of Tehran is currently a guest in our country as part of the ‘Brussels Urban Summit 2023’, a summit at which some 2,000 politicians, academics and representatives of civil society discuss the future of cities. A total of 600 cities are represented.

Zakani was one of the dignitaries received yesterday at the Brussels Town Hall. Mayor Philippe Close (PS) shared a photo of it on social media last night.

The reception is remarkable in the light of the Olivier Vandecasteele case. The Belgian NGO employee (42) was released just over two weeks ago after spending 455 days in an Iranian cell. He was sentenced by fallacy to 40 years in prison and 74 lashes, and had to endure severe beatings. Vandecasteele was released after Belgium agreed to a prisoner exchange for terrorist Assadollah Assadi (51).

LOOK. This is how the Olivier Vandecasteele case went in 2 minutes

The Iranian-Swedish professor and physician, specialized in disaster medicine, Ahmadreza Djalali, affiliated with the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), is even still in prison in Iran, seven years in the meantime. He is still not free and his family fears for his life.

There is therefore strong criticism of the reception. Sophie Rohonyi of DéFI is very displeased: “1st row, 4th from the left: the mayor of Tehran! Founder of the Society of Devotees of the Islamic Revolution, member of the Revolutionary Guards, supporter of the Iranian regime that oppresses its people with blood, including in Tehran!” She calls the fact that Brussels State Secretary Pascal Smet invited him a “serious political mistake”.

The same story with Brussels MR chairman David Leisterh. “It is shocking and regrettable. I ask for an explanation: rolling out the red carpet for those holding hostages is not acceptable,” he tweeted.

Theo Francken (N-VA) calls it “shocking” and calls for action: “Put the IRGC (the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, ed.) on the terror list, increase the sanctions and recall our ambassador from Tehran ASAP. And maybe don’t invite terrorists to the cleanest town hall in Europe,” he lashes out.

His fellow party member Darya Safai – born in Tehran herself – is also clear: “Today, a terrorist was received in the beautiful city hall of Brussels. Alireza Zakani, ex-boss of the Islamic Basij, part of the IRGC, tasked with beating, killing and repressing students to nip their understandable protest against the regime in the bud. How is it possible that the boss of such a notorious and punished organization just gets a visa from Belgium to travel to Brussels? Look at how terrorists from the Islamic murderous regime in Iran are allowed to roam freely in the heart of Europe. Apparently, lessons are never learned from the terrorist attacks that this regime carries out on European soil. Unsafe and unacceptable!”

Pascal Smet admitted to the Walloon newspaper ‘La Libre’ that he invited Zakani, but shifted part of the responsibility to Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib (MR). “Tehran is a member of Metropolis World Congress, an international organization of cities with more than one million inhabitants that co-hosts the conference (the organizers are the Brussels Region, the OECD, Eurocities and Metropolis, ed.). Metropolis asked Tehran to participate in the summit,” he explains.

He then applied for a visa for Zakani at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on behalf of Metropolis. “Entering the territory and granting visas is a federal competence. We have nothing to say about that. We also made it clear that we would follow the advice of the Foreign Minister. And that we would accept any refusal.”

Smet does not think it is a political error. “This is not an invitation from the mayor or from Brussels or the Brussels Region. It is the network of major world cities that invites all members. And so is the man in question. Moreover, Brussels is a diplomatic capital. Attendance does not mean agreeing with everyone. Consultation is at the heart of diplomacy.”

The cabinet of Minister Lahbib bounces the ball back. It says it has given negative advice, but Smet would have ignored that. “Despite the negative advice from Foreign Affairs, State Secretary Smet has decided to invite the mayor of Tehran and others to the Brussels Urban Summit. He emphasized the importance for the Brussels Region of having Tehran represented at the event and has therefore explicitly asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs not to oppose it.”

The visa was then issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.