BRUSSELS – Pascal Smet, a Belgian regional administrator representing Brussels, resigned on Sunday after causing a stir by hosting an Iranian group led by Tehran’s mayor.
Smet resigned three days after Belgian Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib accused him of “sullying the image” of the city by permitting Iranian and Russian delegations to attend the Brussels Urban Summit, a convention of mayors from important towns worldwide.
Smet, Brussels’ state secretary for urbanism, announced his resignation at a press conference.
He stated that he felt obligated to do so after an email from his office surfaced revealing that the city’s regional authority was paying the housing bills for Tehran mayor Alireza Zakani and two Russian officials during their conference.
Smet said he “didn’t make a personal error,” claiming that one of his employees made the lodging agreement without his knowledge.
Belgium and Iran have strained relations.
In exchange for the release of a Belgian humanitarian worker and three other Europeans held by Iran, Belgium released an Iranian diplomat imprisoned on terrorist charges for trying to blow up an Iranian opposition demonstration outside Paris in 2018.
Zakani is allied with Iran’s theocratic national leadership and is intimately associated with the Revolutionary Guards, having previously led its Basij militia unit.
Despite concerns from the foreign ministry, Smet insisted on visas for Zakani and the other 13 members of the Iranian group, according to Lahbib.
The deputy mayor of the western Russian city of Kazan and an official in a Russian organisation federating significant cities were also granted visas to attend the urbanism event.
Source: AFP