Maryam Rajavi visited Belgium’s senate. It was a real visit, since a guide showed her the hall and rooms of the Senate and explained the uses of each one. It had been emphasized that Maryam Rajavi should enter the Senate from the entrance doors so that reporters (who had been alerted of the event by MKO as well as Iran’s warning to the Belgian ambassador to Tehran) could film the moments of her arrival with a special car provided by a security services company.
The MKO’s show was great. However, as soon as she entered the Senate building, MKO’s propagandistic theatre came to a halt. To justify his illegal act of inviting the head of a terrorist group, Vankrunkelsven Patrik referred to a legislation according to which senators can invite individuals. (1)
Spokesperson for the foreign ministry of Belgium said Rajavi was not in Brussels as the representative of Mojahedin, which is a terrorist organization.
The head of the Senate reminds that "this meeting is not official". (2)
Instead, Maryam Rajavi tried to compensate her unimportant visit by wishing to visit other European countries (3); she took advantage of Iran’s sensitivity on her visit and claimed that her visit was very important.
However, it seems that the real message behind these visits is from European governments that want to say to Iran that they might give more freedom to the MKO if Iran doesn’t accept their conditions.
European politicians have always tried to show that they don’t need Iran in their relations. They think that the issue of MKO and restricting this group is of great importance for Iran.
Also, a few months ago, when restrictions on Maryam Rajavi were lifted by French authorities, European side was trying to put pressure on Iran to accept the conditions.
Europeans want to use this card in their game without taking an official stance in favor this group because they never believe in the MKO as an alternative.
On the other hand, with any activity by the MKO, Iran accuses the European side of resorting to double standards in fighting terrorism; in fact, Iran forces Europeans to renounce terrorism and MKO.
Europeans’ use of the MKO shows that Iran has the upper hand in the game. They know that this card is not valuable but they have no other option. They are well aware that if their ties with Iran worsen, they will have to be pioneers for restricting the MKO and normalizing the relations with Tehran.
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1. Reuters, quoting Belgium’s "Standard"
2. AFP
3. AFP: Rajavi said she hoped this (being welcomed in Belgian senate) could be an example for other countries