Former Iranian hostage and humanitarian aid worker Olivier Vandecasteel has called on the European Union to sever diplomatic ties with the Islamic Republic, saying the European Union and its member states have not done enough to address the systematic and widespread attacks on unarmed civilians during protests in Iran.
He said the sanctions and political isolation Western countries have imposed on Tehran are insufficient and Europe has failed to come together to stop Iran’s crimes.
“Scenarios of repression, blackouts, murders, mass arrests and executions are repeated with impunity. We need to change gears,” Van de Castele told Euronews, arguing that a different and more decisive response was warranted to what he said could amount to crimes against humanity.
European Parliament President Roberta Metsoula has increased pressure on the Islamic Republic, including banning Iranian diplomats from entering the country. Separately, EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kalas said the EU was ready to push for further sanctions against Iran.
In addition to severing diplomatic relations with Iran, Van de Castele, a Belgian national, said Europe should suspend all remaining cooperation with Tehran, expel Iranian government representatives from Iran, and strengthen accountability and justice mechanisms such as the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission on Iran.
“I know from experience that many Iranian interlocutors are still actively trying to use their influence to support the regime’s policies in places like Brussels, Geneva and New York,” Van de Castele said.
He also called on the EU to tighten sanctions, but warned against further punishing the country’s poor. The challenge, he said, is to target those currently committing crimes without harming suffering citizens.
The Iranian regime will ultimately use these sanctions as a way to show its people that the suffering is being caused by foreign powers, Vandecaster explained.
Labeling the Revolutionary Guards a terrorist organization
“In addition to further sanctions, we also encourage the explicit designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization, which has been questioned and voted upon many times in the European Parliament but has never been acted upon,” he said.
Like Vande Casteel, several European nationals have been arbitrarily detained in Iran and have been demanding justice and compensation since their release.
“So far, the answer we have received is that member states are reluctant to confront Iran over its well-documented human rights violations, even when European nationals are among the victims,” he said.
He went on to explain that one of the reasons he did not receive support or psychological assistance from Belgium after his release in May 2023 was because his detention and detention in Iran was not recognized as an act of terrorism.
Mr. Vandecasteel was imprisoned for 456 days on suspicion of espionage. He was first sentenced to 28 years in prison in December 2022 and then 40 years in prison in January 2023.
The United Nations concluded that he was a victim of arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, torture, and other ill-treatment by the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Citing his own experience, he explained that when detained in Iran, “You’re not just fighting one person at a time; you’re all fighting a whole machine against you. And you’re cut off from the rest of the world.”
“They (the Iranian regime) can do anything to hang on to power. I think that’s all they want right now and they’re fighting to survive right now,” he said, adding that Iran is prepared to carry out large-scale killings, detentions and torture to achieve its goals.
He said there is no separation of powers in Iran. “Too often in Europe we fail to understand how the different parts of the[Iranian]regime work together to protect it: diplomacy, intelligence services, the Revolutionary Guards, the judicial system and even the state media work together,” Vandekaester said.
He said Iranian diplomacy was about “protecting the regime at all costs” and tactically luring foreign partners into endless negotiations. Meanwhile, intelligence services continue to arrest, interrogate and torture, while the judicial system speeds up trials and executions, he continued.
“The idea that Europe can engage Iran’s foreign ministry as if it were separate from a regime that is committing human rights abuses and crimes is naive at best,” he argued.
From protest to revolution
Iranian authorities say more than 2,000 people have been killed since protests against the Islamic regime began on December 28, but non-governmental organizations believe the number is much higher.
“Given the support from all parts of the country with a strong desire for change, this should no longer be called a protest, but in fact a revolution,” Bandekastele said, adding that one challenge was the lack of agreement on the type of governance that should replace the clergy that has been in power in Iran since 1979.
“I think the Iranian people are strong enough to lead the country on their own. Outside intervention has no choice but to be used again as a means for the regime to become self-sufficient,” said the Belgian humanitarian worker.
In 2024, Vandekaester founded Protect Humanitarian, an NGO that advocates for stronger protection for humanitarian aid workers around the world.
