Iran Summons Belgian Envoy over Court Ruling against Its Diplomat

Iran's Foreign Ministry summoned the Belgian ambassador to Tehran to express the Islamic Republic's strong protest at an "illegal" verdict issued by the Antwerp Law Courts against Iranian diplomat Asadollah Assadi.

The top Belgian diplomat was summoned by the director general for Western Europe affairs at the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and received a strong written note of protest by Tehran over the court ruling.

In the Tuesday meeting, the Iranian official underlined that the Belgian court ruling was in breach of international law and amounted to a violation of Belgium’s commitments with regards to Iran.

Therefore, he added, Iran does not recognize the court verdict, whatsoever.
The Iranian foreign ministry official noted that the procedure whereb
y Assadi was tried, convicted and received a sentence runs counter to provisions of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and lacks legitimacy.
He said the proceedings have been influenced by a plot hatched by the MKO terrorist group in order to strain relations between Iran and Europe.

He added the judicial proceedings into the case and remarks made by some authorities clearly have smacks of the language used by the MKO terrorist group.
In the meeting, the Belgian government was asked to abide by human rights principles, end its actions regarding the Iranian diplomat immediately and release Assadi as soon as possible.

The top Belgian diplomat, in turn, said he will inform his government of Iran’s protest.

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