Though what might be Belgium's biggest political hoo-ha is far from resolved, yesterday's committee hearing that saw the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister grilled by parliamentarians gave some indication as to how things are likely to pan out.
The outcome is hardly satisfactory but the beleaguered ministers answered scathing questions with justifications of realpolitik – their argument being that although unsavoury, the human need to maintain diplomatic relations with Iran took precedence.
De Croo's line of reasoning drew on criticisms of hypocrisy that lambasted those responsible for allowing the Iranian delegation to come to Brussels in light of the so recent release of illegally detained aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele. The PM countered that it was in fact precisely because Belgium remains engaged in negotiations "to free Europeans jailed in Iran" that it was important not to complicate matters with extraneous falling-out.
Both De Croo and Lahbib pointed to the ex-Brussels minister Pascal Smet for getting Belgium into such a fix by inviting the Iranians in the first place. But even Smet, who felt compelled to resign over the affair, was under pressure to invite the mayor of Tehran Alireza Zakani given that the latter is co-president of the Metropolis organisation that orchestrates the prestigious summits, this year held in Brussels.
The unpardonable issue with Zakani (as incensed critics across Belgium's political spectrum keep pointing out) is his close connection to the regime responsible for such brutal repression of its civilians. Indeed, Zakani previously headed a militia unit of Iran's conservative Revolutionary Guards and bears the menacing moniker "the butcher of Tehran".
Matters were made worse by reports that when confronted by protestors in Brussels (many of them exiled Iranians) the Iranian delegation gathered intelligence, taking pictures of protestors that could be used to persecute family members in Iran. That this took place on Belgian soil has been deemed by many as inexcusable.
But their calls for those responsible to face repercussions have been trumped by the exigencies of realpolitik.
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