Belgian Police Boost Security For Iranian-Born Lawmaker After Death Threats
The Belgian police are beefing up security measures to protect Darya Safai, an Iranian-born member of parliament, following death threats she received on social media.
The Belgian police are beefing up security measures to protect Darya Safai, an Iranian-born member of parliament, following death threats she received on social media.
In an interview with Iran International, Safai said that the death threats against her have increased following the Israel-Hamas conflict.
“I should be careful and report any suspicious events around me” to the police, the lawmaker wrote on X.
The police has launched a probe into the nature and sources of the threats.
Safai blamed Islamists for the threats, vowing that she will continue to stand up for freedom.
“It’s incomprehensible that people should make serious threats … instead of responding with substantive arguments. But that is just how Islamists operate,” read her post on X.
Speaking to Iran International, she accused the Iranian regime of orchestrating the threats by promoting Islamist extremism in Belgium and the whole of Europe.
Safai warned that Tehran is trying to target its opponents indirectly under the guise of backing the Palestinian cause.
The alarming rise of extremism and antisemitism have raised serious concerns among European countries, with many of them blaming the Islamic Republic for fostering such activities.
In October, The Times warned that Iranian agents are stirring up unrest in the UK through Gaza protests.
There is direct involvement of the Iranian regime through the physical presence of operatives at protests as well as through disinformation campaigns conducted online, the newspaper said.
Earlier in November, German authorities executed raids on 54 locations connected to the Islamic Center of Hamburg (IZH), suspected of supporting Iran-backed Hezbollah.
On November 4, Safai condemned attempts to silence her with the label of “Islamophobe,” especially since the current conflict began in the Middle East.
“What the world is experiencing today is much broader than a war between Israel and Hamas. It is a broad war that shows the direction for certain Muslims to ultimately achieve their goals,” she said earlier this month, highlighting the Muslims’ promised goal to conquer the world and establish an Islamic rule.
Last November, Iran International was warned by London Police that its journalists were under threat from Iranian agents and the police took measures to strengthen security around the network’s offices. A man was arrested in the vicinity of Iran International’s headquarters in February and charged with a terrorism offence.
Safai has been one of the most vocal European lawmakers critical of the Islamic Republic, advocating a tougher stance towards Tehran and its regional and international policies.
She is also one of the staunch supporters of listing Iran’s Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) as a terrorist organization.
Safai told Iran International on Thursday that she has been under police protection since June after she criticized a formal invitation extended to Alireza Zakani, the mayor of Tehran, to visit Belgium. Her criticism angered Iranian officials, with some reports saying that they might try to target anti-regime activists and figures who openly opposed Zakani’s visit.
Tehran’s mayor was a hardliner member of parliament before becoming a candidate in the 2021 presidential election and withdrawing in favor of the current president Ebrahim Raisi. He also served as the head of IRGC’s Student Basij paramilitary forces and had a prominent role in cracking down on students during popular protests in July 1999.
The post, initially created following the Islamic Republic's inception, was abolished in 1989 after the fallout between the first leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and the country's inaugural deputy supreme leader, Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, who remained under house arrest until his death in 2009.
The absence of a designated successor since 1989 poses a potential threat to Iran's stability, both before and after Khamenei's eventual passing.
Ayatollah Rahim Tavakol, a member of the Assembly of Experts, disclosed on November 28 that a committee within the Assembly has been assigned the task of appointing a deputy supreme leader. While the matter was not discussed in the recent Assembly meeting, Tavakol emphasized the confidentiality of the committee's work, stating that only its members, including himself and the Assembly chairman, have knowledge of the selected candidates.
He said, "no one other than the committee members including myself and the chairman of the Assembly know the names of those who have been selected as possible deputy supreme leader. So, there was no discussion about this at the Assembly meeting."
Tavakol made it clear that "what the committee does and whom it choses is a secret." Although he tried his best to be secretive about the matter, when reformist Jamaran News website speculated that President Ebrahim Raisi and Tehran Friday Prayers Leader Ahmad Khatami are the other members of the committee, Tavakol said: "Yes. And I am on the committee too."
He clarified that Khamenei is the sole individual privy to the names of the potential nominees for the deputy supreme leader role. The committee, known as "The Committee to Determine the Next Leader," consists of only three members, raising questions about the roles of the remaining 88 members of the Assembly of Experts.
Meanwhile, responding to criticisms about the Assembly of experts presenting reports of its activities to Khamenei rather than keeping checks and balances on the leader's performance as stipulated by Iran's Constitution, he said the Assembly does not interfere with the leader and the institutions that operate under his aegis, nonetheless, there is a two-way relationship between the leader and the Assembly of Experts.
Last week, former President Hassan Rouhani openly spoke about the possibility of Khamenei's death and the importance of the issue of succession. He said, "every day brings us closer to the day of his death although we wish him a long life."
Despite frequent expressions of support by Khamenei and his loyalists for Hamas since the start of the Gaza war, the Iranian government has decided not to get directly involved and assist its proxy militarily. Khamenei has even softened his position somewhat regarding Israel, showing his overall weak position. There have also been concerns about his health after his meeting with athletes last week, during which he looked and sounded frail.
The interview by Tavakol, could be an attempt to prepare the mood for an announcement about the next leader.
One possible solution is to designate a collective body. However, since 1988, Assembly of Experts has opposed a collective leadership by a group of clerics, as conflict of interests could drag the country into chaos. Consequently, individual leadership by figures like Khamenei's son Mojtaba, President Ebrahim Raisi, and former President Hassan Rouhani are more likely choices, despite their diminished popularity. The ultimate decision, however, remains uncertain, as the people's desires, if considered, present an entirely different narrative.
There have been numerous calls by former regime supporters in recent years to drastically alter the constitution and either eliminate the position of the Supreme Leader or reduce its power. Popular protests since 2017 have also shown a growing public rejection of Khamenei’s rule and clerical domination.
