Georges-Louis Bouchez after hosting Prince Reza Pahlavi: appeasement of Tehran must end

Georges-Louis Bouchez, leader of Belgium's liberal Reformist Movement (MR), called the Islamic Republic a hostile regime after hosting Prince Reza Pahlavi in the country's parliament, and said it is not a legitimate partner for diplomacy. Prince Reza Pahlavi's press office published his message on Friday, 6 November 2026.

According to Bouchez, while the Islamic Republic represses the people of Iran, it exports extremist Islamism, fuels war, takes European citizens hostage and threatens security on European soil. He urged Belgium and Europe to end their policy of appeasement towards Tehran, confront the Islamic Republic's networks on European soil and stand with the people of Iran to bring this regime to an end.

Prince Reza Pahlavi's visit to Belgium

Prince Reza Pahlavi went to the Belgian federal parliament on Thursday, 5 November, at Bouchez's invitation. The invitation had earlier met with caution from Belgium's foreign ministry, and in the days before the visit Bouchez defended it, saying the fall of the Islamic Republic must be a priority. During the same visit the Prince met Bernard Quintin, the interior minister, Eléonore Simonet, the minister for small businesses, and MR lawmakers, and urged Belgium to lead the European Union in confronting the Islamic Republic's threats.

For months the MR has been calling for the expulsion of the Islamic Republic's ambassador from Brussels and the cancellation of the prisoner transfer treaty between Belgium and Tehran.

Reactions in Belgium

Earlier, Theo Francken, Belgium's defence minister and a member of the N-VA, said the Islamic Republic had tried to use threats to stop Prince Reza Pahlavi's speech at the Royal Military Academy. At the same time in Germany, Frankfurt police barred the Prince from attending his supporters' Saturday rally because of threats from the Islamic Republic, a rally that coincides with the Friedrich Naumann Foundation's award of its Freedom Prize to the people of Iran.

After hosting Prince Reza Pahlavi, the leader of Belgium's liberal party called the Islamic Republic a hostile regime, not a diplomatic partner.