The Halle-Vilvoorde Office of the Public Prosecutor is set to launch an investigation into alleged plans by the Iranian regime to kidnap Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie (N-VA) parliamentarian Darya Safai.
This was announced on Tuesday evening by OPP Spokesperson Ingrid Moriau.
Safai had revealed on Monday on the social media platform X that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard intended to abduct her via Turkey.
“The Belgian police and security services contacted me today regarding an alarming situation concerning my safety,” she said in a statement. “They received disturbing information indicating that the Islamic regime in Iran wants to kidnap me and take me to Tehran.”
In early July, the Belgian Chamber’s Foreign Affairs Committee adopted a draft resolution calling for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard to be listed as a terrorist organisation in Europe. Safai was one of the initiators of the draft.
“The regime wants to kidnap, torture and execute a member of parliament from a European country, or use them as a bargaining chip in their hostage diplomacy," Safai said.
“I have a clear message for the Iranian regime and their pathetic attitude and criminal acts: as a young girl of 25, I was imprisoned in your terrible prison,” she added. “I know very well what monsters you are, and I know that you torture, rape and murder. And although I fear for my life, I will never stop fighting for freedom.”
Safai was born in Iran but fled the country in 2000 because of persecution by the regime. She has been an N-VA parliamentarian since 2019.
