The Times mentions only the alcohol:
The Speaker of Belgium’s parliament cancelled a lunch with his Iranian counterpart because the visiting delegation from Tehran insisted that no alcohol be served. The lunch, scheduled for today, was called off because “we didn’t want to bow to outside rules”, a spokesman said.
Turns out there’s more to it though:
Iranian officials on a visit to Belgium have upset their hosts by trying to ban alcohol from the lunch table and refusing to shake women’s hands.
Belgium’s parliament speaker, Herman De Croo, decided to cancel a lunch rather than hosting a meal with no wine.
Strict Islamic teaching instructs Muslims to avoid looking at alcohol, as well as to avoid drinking it.
Belgian Senate president Anne-Marie Lizin later cancelled talks with the visitors over the handshake issue.
“We tried to find a solution, but they held fast to their position of not wanting to shake her hand,” spokesman Patrick Peremans said.
The Senate said the meeting with the 12-strong delegation had been called off because of the “continued refusal” of Ms Lizin’s counterpart to shake her hand.
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