Troublesome Trip of Tehran's Mayor; Belgian Foreign Minister May Resign Under Pressure from Representatives

Politico has speculated that Hajia Lhabib, the Belgian Foreign Minister, may resign over granting a visa to Alireza Zakani, the mayor of Tehran. Zakani is notorious for his repressive statements and his role in suppressing student protests against the Islamic Republic. While Zakani has repeatedly made anti-Western remarks, reports indicate that his own child has been in Switzerland, where his grandchild was also born. Politico states that lawmakers have pressured the Belgian Foreign Minister regarding the visa for Zakani and his attendance at a city management-related meeting, making his presence a new political headache for the Belgian government. Supporters of Lhabib hope he will apologize for granting the visa to Zakani during the session. Darya Safai, an Iranian-born member of the Belgian Parliament, expressed dissatisfaction with Lhabib's responses to lawmakers in a tweet on Monday. Safai stated that Lhabib 'apologized' but later told Parliament that 'what he did was completely correct and legal under the guise of diplomacy.' Safai described Lhabib's remarks as 'a series of hollow and meaningless words.' Earlier, Pascal Smets, the head of urban planning and international affairs for the Brussels municipality, resigned on Sunday, June 18, following the uproar over inviting Alireza Zakani to the Belgian capital. Smets insisted he had committed no wrongdoing and stated that all documents related to his correspondence about inviting and issuing a visa for the Tehran mayor and his companions had been submitted to the Belgian Parliament. Darya Safai previously stated that Pascal Smets resigned due to pressures from her and her colleagues over the invitation to Alireza Zakani. Zakani expressed satisfaction with his trip to Brussels. A month prior, Lhabib's role in the release of Assadollah Assadi from prison and his exchange with a Belgian prisoner in Iran sparked widespread protests. Olivier Vandecasteele, a Belgian humanitarian worker, was arrested by the Islamic Republic's security forces in February 2022 and sentenced to '40 years' in prison on charges of 'espionage.' He was exchanged on Friday, May 26, with Assadollah Assadi, an Iranian diplomat convicted in Belgium for his involvement in a bombing operation against a gathering of the People's Mujahedin Organization in Paris. Additionally, see: Darya Safai to VOA: Assadi is a freed terrorist, and this day is 'very bitter and dark.'