Belgium’s foreign minister, Maxime Prévot, said on Monday that recent American and Israeli military strikes on Iran violated international law, while arguing
they could still be justified on grounds of global security.
Speaking in an interview on RTBF La Première, Prévot reacted to Operation Epic Fury, launched by the United States and Israel against Iran early Saturday.
“As a defender of international law, Belgium must acknowledge that the way this operation was carried out does not comply with international norms,” said Prévot, a member of Les Engagés. At the same time, he pointed to Iran’s repressive political system, which he said has claimed the lives of tens of thousands of civilians.
“International law must, above all, protect people and their fundamental rights and freedoms,” he said. “From that perspective, we cannot pretend that Iran is a model state.”
Security concerns outweigh legal purity
Prévot stressed that international law cannot be applied in isolation from geopolitical realities. After years of failed diplomatic efforts aimed at curbing Iran’s ballistic missile and nuclear ambitions, he said, the risk of a major regional security crisis had become too great to ignore.
Asked directly whether the US-Israeli intervention could be justified in terms of international security, Prévot answered: “I think so.” He added, however, that the use of force must remain a last resort.
“Military action can never be the first option. It should only come after diplomacy has clearly failed,” he said, calling for de-escalation, renewed respect for international law and a swift return to negotiations.
Warning against expelling Iran’s ambassador
The foreign minister also pushed back against calls from Georges-Louis Bouchez, leader of the Mouvement Réformateur, to expel Iran’s ambassador from Belgium and suspend an existing prisoner-exchange agreement.
“We must resist the temptation of easy sound bites,” Prévot said. Expelling the ambassador, he warned, could put Belgian diplomatic staff in Tehran at risk at a time when their presence is essential.
“When the priority is to protect our citizens abroad, it would be irresponsible to take steps that weaken our capacity to assist them,” he said.
Bouchez has argued that Belgium and the European Union should openly support US and Israeli efforts to bring down Iran’s leadership, claiming international law should not be used as a shield for authoritarian regimes. He questioned why international law failed to prevent the killing of Iranian civilians by their own government, arguing that foreign intervention followed internal uprisings backed by Washington and Tel Aviv.
Thousands of Belgians affected by regional crisis
Prévot also confirmed that around 26,000 Belgians are currently in the broader region, including roughly 2,450 tourists stranded in the Middle East. About half of those tourists are in Dubai. Evacuations are not possible for now, he said, because large parts of the region’s airspace remain closed.
Belgium is coordinating with other European countries to determine when travel may safely resume. In the meantime, Prévot urged Belgian nationals to remain patient and strictly follow local safety instructions. Photo by Abxbay, Wikimedia commons.