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Belgian police arrest former EU foreign policy chief in anti-fraud probe

siavash — Wed, 03 Dec 2025 09:00:02 +0000

Belgian police arrest former EU foreign policy chief in anti-fraud probe

TEHRAN (Iran News) According to Tuesday’s report by Politico, citing informed sources, Belgian police conducted raids on several buildings connected to the European Union, resulting in the arrest of three individuals, including Mogherini, Stefano Sannino, and a manager at the College of Europe.

Sannino is a well-known senior EU official who served as the European External Action Service (EEAS) secretary general from 2021 to 2024.

Police searched the offices of the EEAS, the College of Europe in Bruges, and several private homes, all under suspicion of corruption related to the establishment of an educational academy for young diplomats.

These raids were carried out at the request of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), which is investigating suspected fraud involving an EU-funded project.

In a statement, the EPPO noted that the investigation focuses on the European Union Diplomatic Academy, a nine-month training program for young diplomats that was awarded to the College of Europe in Belgium through a public tender between 2021 and 2022.

These raids were carried out at the request of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), which is investigating suspected fraud involving an EU-funded project.

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Belgian Companies Eager to Work With Iranian Counterparts

mahla — Wed, 22 Dec 2021 07:43:51 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Ambassador of Belgium to Tehran Gian Marco Rizzo in meeting with Head of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mine and Agriculture (ICCIMA) Mr. Gholam-Hossein Shafei voiced the interest of Belgian companies for cooperation with Iranian counterparts.

In the meeting, Rizzo expressed his satisfaction for presence at the Iran Chamber as it is considered a focal point in Iran’s economy and said taking advantage of the existing capacities is very important.

He emphasized that Belgium is very important core of link in Europe and it considers very valuable the interactions with its trade partners. He went on to say that Belgium is world’s 17th biggest exporting country and it has good resources, adding that the country intends to make the most out of these resources through cooperation with its trade partners. He expressed hope the ties between Iran and Belgium would expand like in the past, and for this reason Brussels has kept open its trade office despite sanctions.

He then pointed to his country’s structural system, adding that Belgium has been comprised of three parts and they enjoy close cooperation, noting that in each program their representatives are present to advance the program.

Meanwhile Shafei, for his part, pointed to the considerable capacities of Belgium in the field of transportation and new technologies and recommended cooperation between Tehran and Belgium in the fields of renewable energies production, new technologies of irrigation and agriculture and renovation of industries.

Head of the ICCIMA also said Belgium is considered as one of the famous countries in the world because of its transportation system, adding that this country is considered as one of the best European states in terms of port capacities.

He went on to say that despite good capacities for bilateral cooperation, the trade between Iran and Belgium has been unsatisfactory due to sanctions and the pandemic in recent years and their trade volume has slumped to $350m.

Shafei also pointed to the good agreements signed between the two countries in the past, adding that one of them was to remove charging double tax and called for providing infrastructures for its implementation.

He said since Iran’s industry needs renovation in its industries, the cooperation in this field is a good ground for cooperation between the two states, adding that since Belgium has progressed well in irrigation technology and has good experience, the two countries can also cooperate in this field.

He also called for connection of Iran’s Bandar Abbas Port with Port of Antwerp in Belgium as both ports enjoy special positions, and called for constant and effective relation between ICCIMA and Embassy of Belgium in Tehran and expressed hope chambers of commerce of both countries can cooperate under an organized and integrated programs.

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Belgian Iranologist Pierre Lecoq decorated with Mahmud Afshar Award

mahla — Thu, 23 Sep 2021 13:32:07 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Belgian Iranologist Pierre Lecoq has received Iran’s Mahmud Afshar Historical Literary Award.

The Mahmud Afshar Foundation annually awards scholars who have contributed valuable literary work or research.

Lecoq was awarded for his continuous studies, serious research and publication of great books on Iranian studies in his academic career, which spans over 50 years, Jaleh Amuzegar, a member of the award committee of the Mahmud Afshar Foundation, said.

He also was honored for his studies on Fiqh al-Lughah, a reference in dictionaries in Arabic written by Abu Mansour ath-Tha’alini, and the translation of the Avesta and Shahnameh.

Due to his illness, Lecoq received his award and a diplomat of honor along with an Iranian carpet at his home in a suburb of Paris from members of the award committee, including Amuzegar, Sassan Afshar and Arash Afshar, and the Ambassador and Permanent Delegate of Iran to UNESCO, Ahmad Pakatchi, the Permanent Delegation of Iran to UNESCO announced on Tuesday.

Lecoq thanked the foundation for awarding him, recounting memories from his sojourn in Iran.

He praised the Iranian culture, calling it one of the most profound cultures of the world, and said that his studies on Iran are insignificant compared with the grandeur of the culture.

He also expressed his hope that Iranian studies would continue across the globe and the world’s academic centers could further the previous research to raise the knowledge and awareness of Iranian culture and literature more than ever.

Born in 1939, Lecoq is one of the most prolific and renowned scholars of ancient Iranian and Oriental studies.

He received his doctorate in Oriental history and literature from the University of Liège and in 1983 from Sorbonne University.

He was also a lecturer of oriental languages at the University of New Sorbonne, and at the Ecole de Louvre, he taught the Old Persian, Middle Persian and Parthian epigraphs.

He was trained by Jacques Duchesne-Guillemin, the famous European Iranologist at the University of Liège.

Lecoq first devoted his work to ancient Iranian languages, mainly to Avestan philology and to Old Persian epigraphy.

His diachronic approach to Iranian – enriched by his in-depth knowledge of Indo-Iranian and Middle Iranian languages – as well as his advances on the phonetics and paleography of Old-Persian cuneiform have resulted in the presentation of a full translation of Achaemenid inscriptions, strictly taking into account the parallel versions in Elamite and Babylonian.

Filling one of the gaps in Iranian studies regarding access to primary sources, his translation of the Avesta books (Paris, 2016) has established itself as a unique and essential tool.

In the field of Iranian typology, his work allowed him to make a hypothesis on the primitive habitat of the Kurdish. He also introduced a dialect of Fars (The Sivand dialect, grammar and texts) and published a voluminous study on the dialects spoken in ancient Carmania.

Convinced that the study of the languages, religions and cultures of ancient Iran could not be dissociated from that of the first works of Persian literature, Pierre Lecoq has never ceased to draw attention to the central role of the Shahnameh and published a full translation of it in French, based on Jules Mohl version.

Photo: Belgian Iranologist Pierre Lecoq (C) poses with a number of the award committee after receiving the Mahmud Afshar Historical Literary Award at his home in the suburb of Paris.

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Iran’s Diplomat Rejects Appeal to Belgian Court

mahla — Wed, 05 May 2021 13:17:30 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Iranian diplomat Asadollah Asadi dropped appeal to the Belgian court after protesting the court is not qualified to judge the case and will serve his illegal sentence of 20-year imprisonment, his lawyer Dimitri de Beo said.

Asadi decided not to appeal, his lawyer Dimitri de Beco told reporters on Wednesday in Antwerp, the Belgian city where the diplomat was sentenced on February 4.

“This has been a political trial since the beginning and he does not want to participate any longer,” de Beco said, adding that Asadi had diplomatic immunity at Iran’s embassy in Vienna.

However, judges had ruled that diplomatic immunity did not protect him from allegations.

Asadi who served as the third secretary of the Iranian Embassy in Austria was arrested in Germany in 2018 and was extradited to Belgium. He is accused of allegedly planning the bombing and providing the explosives to an Iranian couple from Brussels.

Iran has always denied the allegations against its diplomat and in July 2018 summoned the French and Belgian ambassadors and Germany’s chargé d’affaires in protest at his arrest in Germany.

In relevant remarks in February, Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh condemned the Belgian court’s issuing a 20-year prison sentence for diplomat Asadollah Asadi, stressing that the decision has been made under the influence of the MKO terrorist outfit.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran strongly condemns the announcement of the Belgian Court of Antwerp to issue a 20-year prison sentence for Asadi,” Khatibzadeh said on Thursday February 4 in reaction to the Belgian Court’s ruling on Iranian diplomat, adding, “Unfortunately, Belgium and some European countries, under the influence of the machination of the Mojahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) terrorist group, have committed such an illegal and unjustifiable act.”

He went on to say that as Iran has stated several times, all stages of Asadi’s detention, the judicial process, the issuance of the recent sentence are illegal and in flagrant violation of international law, particularly the provisions of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

“Therefore, they [Europeans] should be held accountable for the gross violations of the rights of the Iranian diplomat, including the inhumane conditions that he faced while in detention in Germany and Belgium,” Khatibzadeh noted.

The spokesman emphasized that Iran reserves the right to employ all possible legal and diplomatic means to exercise the rights of Asadollah Asadi and to hold accountable governments that have violated their international obligations.

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Belgian art center to commemorate Abbas Kiarostami

reporter 1222 — Sat, 13 Jan 2018 16:10:17 +0000

TEHRAN – The center for Fine Arts in Brussels will commemorate late Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami.

The Center for Fine Arts in Brussels, Belgium (Bozar) will hold a ceremony in commemoration of the late Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami in January 16 and 25. During the ceremony two films by Abbas Kiarostami, ’24 Frames’ and ‘Take Me Home’, will be screened. Also, the documentary film ’76 Minutes and 15 Seconds with Kiarostami’ directed by Seifollah Samadian will be shown in the ceremony.

Expert on Iranian cinema Agnes Devictor and his husband the journalist Jean-Michel Frodon will introduce and discuss the films.

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Belgian House placed on national register list

reporter 1222 — Wed, 27 Dec 2017 18:30:05 +0000

TEHRAN– A local official of Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization (ICHTO) in Gilan Province said that the Belgian House of Astara is named on the national register list.

“The Belgian House in Iranian port city of Astara was placed on the national register list with number 31891,” said Vali Jahani, a local official of Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization (ICHTO) in Gilan Province.

The local authority recounted that the building was constructed in 121 years ago by the Belgian head of the Astara’s Customs Administration and later was used as the guest house for temporary stay of special visitors and guests of the administration.

The local official also touched upon the architecture of the building saying that Eastern European architecture has got mixed with the local way of building houses using wood and plaster.

He also added that the place will be used as a museum to showcase historic documents and the old instruments and stationary used at the administration.

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Catalan Leader Puigdemont Faces Belgian Extradition Hearing

reporter 1222 — Mon, 04 Dec 2017 09:02:18 +0000

TEHRAN – Axed Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont faces an extradition hearing in Belgium on Monday as Spain seeks to have him sent back to face sedition charges over his region’s independence drive.

A judge sitting behind closed doors in Brussels will hear from lawyers for Puigdemont and four of his former ministers, who all fled to Belgium in Oct despite a summons to appear in court in Spain, claiming they would not get a fair trial, AFP reported.

Prosecutors last month asked the judge to approve the European arrest warrant issued by Madrid for the five in the opening round of what could become a protracted courtroom battle.

Monday’s hearing comes on the eve of the official start of campaigning for Dec 21 elections in Catalonia, ordered by Madrid to “restore normality” to the wealthy northeastern region, which declared independence unilaterally following a hotly disputed Oct 1 referendum.

Puigdemont’s lawyer said at the weekend he will remain in Belgium until after the elections.

“No matter what, they will be (in Brussels) till at least Dec 21 and according to my calculations this could go on till mid-Jan,” lawyer Jaume Alonso Cuevillas told Catalan radio Rac1, referring to Puigdemont and the four former ministers.

“I am convinced that no matter what happens they will have recourse to an appeal,” the lawyer said.

Spanish prosecutors want to prosecute Puigdemont and his former ministers for rebellion – which carries a maximum 30-year jail sentence – and sedition for holding the referendum, which was declared illegal and unconstitutional by the courts, as well as for misusing public funds.

Meanwhile a Spanish Supreme Court judge is set to decide whether or not to free 10 other separatist leaders who were jailed pending a probe into their role in the Catalan independence drive.

Any release on bail would mark a turn in the election campaign, particularly for separatist parties who have repeatedly accused Madrid of taking “political prisoners” and “repression” after their attempt to declare unilateral independence fell flat.

Puigdemont and his cadres say the charges against them are politically motivated and as both sides are likely to appeal if the judge rules against them in the extradition hearing, the case could drag on for months, according to the Belgian justice minister.

Christophe Marchand, lawyer for two of Puigdemont’s ex-ministers, told AFP that “the facts as written in the arrest warrant are not punishable under Belgian law”, saying the case was an attempt to punish a “political process that passed off peacefully”.

After Monday’s hearing the court is expected to make its ruling in eight to 10 days, according to the Brussels prosecutor’s office.

A spokesman for Puigdemont said Friday he would “respect the schedule” of the Belgian legal process.

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