[https://www.nieuwsblad.be/cnt/dmf20230211\_92339175](https://www.nieuwsblad.be/cnt/dmf20230211_92339175)

Apparently Belgan and dutch richest family makes huge money through hidden investments in Iran… 267 million euro is just one time investment of one company alone…

This news made me so mad for several reasons.

First, they invest their money in the companies related to IRGC or having IRGC behind the scene as a majority share holder ( Such as Digi Kala the largest online retailer in Middle east). IRGC is the same unit in Iran which brutality suppress the protest and also arranges arbitrary arrests of dual nationals and Belgians (including Olivier Vandecasteele). It has been recently announced in a list of terrorists by EU parliament and has been already in the list of sanctions of EU and USA for many years.

Second , Alexander De Croo and the foreign minister are still against placing IRGC in a terror list (as they care a lot about the scop of the investment of Belgian rich families there and they are not willing to make the relation bad with the Islamic regime. This fact has been already brought up by many Iranian political activists but was always denied by foreign politicians as they used the excuse of : “WE HAVE TO LET THE DIPLOMACY DOORS OPEN…” While in reality it’s about money. IRGC controls more than 75% of Iran’s economy.

Third, most of the times, these crimes remain unpunished (just a financial fine) due to the fact that they are considered as “powerful people” and matters like this are less likely to be in mass Media (remain uncontroversial). While many people are struggling in this economy, many rich people believe they don’t have any moral/legal boundaries.

Fourth, once more we see a contradictory of what is being said and what is actually happening about Iran. They condemn the murders and in the meantime benefit and make deals.

10 comments

  1. Euhmm ok en? Voor zover ik weet heeft iedereen het recht om zelf te doen wat hij wilt met zijn geld… Ook al is het tegen ons normen en waarden

  2. To my understanding, it’s not about “protecting rich Belgian families” but they’re trying to preserve a very small chance or JCPOA talks resuming.

    A lot of misery and tensions in the region, proxy wars and a future energy inspired war (!) between Iran (gas; not reached their economic peak) and Saudi Arabia (oil; reached their economic peak) can be softened and/or largely resolved if a solid JCPOA deal is achieved. Donald Trump nuked the deal for electoral reasons and the EU is now trying to clean up the mess.

    Your analysis is not even scraping the surface. De Croo doesn’t care about “protecting rich families and their investments”. That’s just typical “liberal protects the rich” bs that may apply to some cases in Belgium but does not stand in how they deal with Iran.

    Belgium doesn’t want the Strait of Hormuz, the second biggest economic bottleneck in the world, to be turned into a warzone. This would have enormous consequences for me and you. Energy prices would skyrocket to levels much higher than we’ve seen the past year. Even worse, it’d give Russia (Iran’s major ally) more leverage against the West. Imagine Iran, with support from Russia, terrorizing the Strait of Hormuz because Iran has nothing to lose anymore. Horror scenario.

    Those family investments you talk about are peanuts compared to the potential consequences of ruining the JCPAO forever. That’s Belgium’s real interest here. You cannot reduce the most complex geopolitical situation in the world, with the exception of Syria, to “De Croo protects rich family”.

    It’s in Belgium’s interest to punish Iran enough to send a message but to not punish Iran too much that it may do something very stupid, causing large economic damage to our country. It’s not pretty but that’s how it works.

    Can you imagine the outrage from Belgians towards De Croo if we enter an energy and inflation crisis 2.0 because Belgium helped push Iran towards towards aggressively hurting the global economy? Yikes. That’s what matters here.

    Since EU countries lead the JCPOA negotiations (seen as more neutral than US/Russia/China), Belgium’s role matters.

    The end of the JCPOA has turned Iran into a more aggressive and authoritarian country. And its people are feeling the consequences. So if you really care about the people of Iran, you’d want Belgium not to give up on the JCPOA.

  3. Like diamond trade with Russia…

    Like real-estate deals with China…

    And probably many many other hypocritical things that are condoned or simply allowed because of mone… I mean diplomacy.

  5. That’s why Heineken taste so bad in Belgium, he’s holding some of the ingredients to invest in other stuff?

    No offense, i love belgian beer but Heineken in be is the worst Heineken i ever had (and i have been travelling around Europe, at least 12-15 countries).

  7. War, war never changes. About every decision we make money is in the mix…
    You really think we’d help that many refugees if it weren’t for the money 😅

  8. Islamic Republic is a terrorist regime, world should stop dealing with terrorists. Any deal with this regime mean more innocent Iranians suffering, death and execution. Just stop dealing with Islamic Republic.

  9. Pecunia non olet, pecunia obediunt omnia.

    (money has no smell, all things are obiedent to money)

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