The Halle-Vilvoorde prosecutor’s office is to start an investigation into a plan by the Iranian regime to kidnap the Iranian-born federal MP Darya Safai (Flemish nationalist). The politician that lives in Wemmel (Flemish Brabant) said that she was shocked when she learned of the plan, but “I won’t be silenced by threats”.
Earlier this week Ms Safai wrote on X that she had been told that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard had plans to kidnap her in Turkey, a country that she had often visited in the past for holidays.
“Today, the Belgian police and security services contacted me regarding an alarming situation concerning my safety. They had received worrying information indicating that the Islamic regime in Iran wants to kidnap me and take me to Tehran. They plan to do this via Turkey. I have therefore been strongly advised not to travel to Turkey.
‘Hostage diplomacy’
“This news comes just after my resolution to place the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on the European terrorist list, was approved in the Belgian House of Representatives. The regime is now planning to kidnap, torture, and execute a member of parliament from a European country. Or to use it as a bargaining chip in their hostage diplomacy. The West should finally face up to how brazen this regime is. That is the naked truth”.
Imprisoned by Iranian regime aged 25
Dayra Safai was born in Iran, but fled to Belgium in 2000.
“I have a clear message for the Iranian regime and their pathetic attitude and criminal actions: As a young girl of 25, I was imprisoned in your terrible prison. I know very well what monsters you are, and I know that you torture, rape, and murder. And even though I fear for my life, I will never stop fighting for freedom”.
“You are now at your weakest ever. Kidnapping a Western parliamentarian will only put you in an even more precarious position”.
Currently in the US
Darya Safai is currently on holiday in the United States. She told VRT News that "There have been so many other times in the past when I have been threatened. However, the fact that they now actually want to kidnap me is really frightening. Of course, I know that I am never safe, but the fact that there is now kidnap plan and that this is something that have done to other people in the past has hit me very hard."
“The idea of ending up in an Iranian prison, a prison like the one I was imprisoned 20 imprisoned in 20 years ago, is terrible. I still remember everything about that prison run by the Iranian regime’s secret service. I would rather be dead than end up there”.
‘If the kidnapping were successful, it would have been an attack on Western democracy. I have been resisting the Iranian regime since I was a young girl. I fight for democracy and freedom. That has been my mission my whole life. My husband and I are freedom fighters and I will continue to be one. I will not be silenced by threats” Ms Safai said.
The public prosecutor's office says that it will launch a criminal investigation into the threats in the coming days. It is not yet clear whether the is a genuine threat or just a rumour.