The Netherlands summoned the Iranian ambassador to The Hague on Tuesday after a Dutch diplomat was forced to hand over his luggage at Tehran airport a few weeks earlier. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed this on Tuesday evening NRC after reporting from the NOS.
On January 28, the diplomat was stopped at Imam Khomeini International Airport. In doing so, his diplomatic baggage would have been taken away from him, contrary to diplomatic norms.
The incident came to light on Tuesday after Iranian state media reported about it. State broadcaster PressTV lays claim Telegram that the diplomat at the airport refused to have his luggage scanned. When security opened the suitcase, satellite phones and other equipment were reportedly found.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs calls this reading “factually incorrect”, but does not want to make any further statements about the contents of the luggage.
The ministry calls the seizure “unacceptable” in a written response. According to The Hague, Tehran thus violated the Vienna Convention (1961), which grants diplomats a high degree of immunity. Diplomatic mail is generally inviolable and may not be opened by authorities of the host country.
Initially, an attempt was made to resolve the incident through ‘silent diplomacy’. The Netherlands says it has “repeatedly addressed” Iran behind the scenes in recent weeks and has unsuccessfully requested “the immediate release of the Dutch diplomatic mission.”
When Iranian media published video footage of the incident on Tuesday, it was decided to summon the ambassador. “With the leaking of these images, that silence has been broken on the Iranian side.” The Hague, which was already at odds with Tehran diplomatically, says it “regrets” this.
According to Iranian media, it would be André van Wiggen, the second man at the embassy in Tehran. The ministry will neither confirm nor deny this for privacy reasons.
