By Published On: July 25, 2022Categories: NEWS
Belgian Parliament voted by 79 to 41 to ratify a fiercely criticized treaty allowing prisoner exchanges with the Iranian regime, potentially opening the way for a convicted Iranian diplomat, and his three accomplices, jailed on terrorism charges to be returned to Tehran.

Belgian Parliament voted by 79 to 41 to ratify a fiercely criticized treaty allowing prisoner exchanges with the Iranian regime, potentially opening the way for a convicted Iranian diplomat, and his three accomplices, jailed on terrorism charges to be returned to Tehran.

 

The Belgian Parliament approved a contentious prisoner swap agreement with the Iranian regime, a shameful agreement that could jeopardize the release of Assadollah Assadi, Tehran’s convicted diplomat-terrorist who was sentenced to 20 years in prison for plotting to bomb the 2018 “Free Iran” rally in support of the Iranian opposition coalition National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).

 

“The Iranian Resistance strongly condemns the endorsement of the shameful deal with the clerical regime and considers it the highest incentive for the religious fascism ruling Iran to step up terrorism and to use hostage-taking as much as possible for the release of its arrested terrorists and agents. Many prominent jurists declared this to be a clear violation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1373,” reads an NCRI statement condemning the prisoner exchange deal with Tehran.

According to the records of Assadi’s case, NCRI President-elect Maryam Rajavi reiterated that Assadi had threatened terrorist actions against Belgium in March 2020 by Iranian-backed armed groups in Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon.

 

 

This agreement was approved despite strong opposition from numerous legal professionals, groups, and human rights organizations as well as Iranian refugees in Europe and opposition political parties in Belgium. Even some members of the ruling coalition opposed this agreement, arguing that it would encourage more terrorism by the mullahs’ regime in Belgium and throughout Europe.

Belgian MP Darya Safai, in an interview with Iran International-Persian on Wednesday, said that “The Belgian government has been pressuring members of its ruling coalition to go against their viewpoints and vote in favor of the government’s prisoner exchange bill with Iran’s regime. In fact, approving this bill, being an agreement with the devil, is even more dangerous for Belgium’s national interest,” Safai added. “They may be able to have one Belgian citizen released,” Safai explained, “While endangering the lives of many more European citizens and Tehran’s terrorism will become far more active on European soil.”

Influential Belgian MP Denis Ducarme of the Liberal Party left the Parliament in protest of the bill and the Belgian government’s efforts to have it passed by any means possible.

 

Belgian MP Darya Safai, in an interview with Iran International-Persian on Wednesday, said that “The Belgian government has been pressuring members of its ruling coalition to go against their viewpoints and vote in favor of the government’s prisoner exchange bill and Denis Ducarme of the Liberal Party left the Parliament in protest of the bill.

Belgian MP Darya Safai, in an interview with Iran International-Persian on Wednesday, said that “The Belgian government has been pressuring members of its ruling coalition to go against their viewpoints and vote in favor of the government’s prisoner exchange bill and Denis Ducarme of the Liberal Party left the Parliament in protest of the bill.

 

The July 14 message from Mrs. Rajavi stated, “The release of a Belgian hostage in Iran will be one step forward and 100 steps backward, while pro-appeasement parties and circles in the West are justifying this latest deal with the Iranian regime. All European and American citizens living in Iran will now be treated as potential hostages.”

On Wednesday, Hossein Shariatmadari, the editor-in-chief of Kayhan daily, the mouthpiece of Iranian regime Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, issued new threats. He wrote, “Why should European citizens enjoy security in Iran if Iranian citizens do not enjoy security in European cities?”

There are currently at least 19 hostages being held by the Iranian regime, though there is a very real possibility that there are several more.

 

 

This bill has a one-month grace period after it is adopted before it is legally binding. This gives time for legal and political measures to be put in place to prevent the transfer of terrorists from the Iranian regime to Iran. One of the most important methods is for Brussels to expect measures from various organizations, including the People’s Mojahedin of Iran (PMOI/MEK), through the Belgian Constitutional Court. The European Court of Human Rights may also be asked to review the case.

Some analysts think that the Iranian regime has practically already begun a new round of hostage-taking tactics in response to Shariatmadari’s threats. Tehran’s hostage-taking strategy has become more aggressive in recent years, particularly in the wake of the court cases of Assadi in Brussels and former Iranian regime official Hamid Noury in Stockholm.

 


MEK Iran (follow us on Twitter and Facebook), Maryam Rajavi’s on her siteTwitter & Facebook, NCRI  (Twitter & Facebook), and People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran – MEK IRAN – YouTub

 

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