.<\/em> This organisation notably cracked down on the student revolt at Tehran University in July 1999.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAsked about Zakani\u2019s visit, Brussels Secretary of State Pascal Smet (Vooruit\/S&D), in charge of International Relations, explained that the visa had been issued by Foreign Affairs. \u201cThe Brussels Urban Summit is a major international conference\u201d, Smet told Le Soir.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTeheran is a member of this global network and was invited by Metropolis in this capacity. Brussels is a diplomatic capital. Just because certain people are present doesn\u2019t mean we agree with them\u2026 I wasn\u2019t in favour of him coming, and I didn\u2019t speak to him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Foreign Office confirms that the Belgian Embassy in Iran issued a visa to Kazani at the insistence of the Brussels Region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cState Secretary Pascal Smet decided to invite the Mayor of Tehran to the Brussels Urban Summit, despite the negative opinion of Foreign Affairs. He expressly asked our services not to object, stressing the importance for the Brussels Region of having Tehran represented at this event.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Georges-Louis Bouchez, president of the Reformist Movement party (Renew), expressed himself against the Iranian mayors\u2019 coming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEmir Kir was expelled from the Socialist Party for a meeting with two far-right Turkish mayors\u201d, he said, reminding the recent case of a Belgian politician\u2019s exclusion from his party because of a meeting. \u201cWhat then can we conclude from Pascal Smet and Philippe Close\u2019s [Brussels mayor] meeting with the mayor of Tehran whose extremism is beyond doubt?\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Theo Francken, from the New Flemish Alliance (N-VA, ECR), referred to the recent release of Vandecasteele in his tweet on the announcement. \u201cLast month, hang up a large poster of Vandecasteele, last week shed a tear in front of the cameras, this week invite his kidnappers to Brussels town hall. The Socialist party and the [government] can do better\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Samuel Cogolati, from the Ecolo party (Greens\/EFA), also shared this opinion on LN24<\/em>. The mayor of Teheran is known for his \u201cultra-radical and ultra-nationalist positions\u201d as well as for his role in the \u201cmollah\u2019s terror regime\u201d, and his being invited to Brussels is a \u201cmistake\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cWe act as if nothing had happened\u201d with Vandecasteele, two weeks after his liberation, he underlined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vandecasteele\u2019s liberation was followed by the release, via Belgium, of three other EU nationals. However, Iran still detains several other EU nationals to this day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(Anne-Sophie Gayet | EURACTIV.com)<\/p>\n