A group of passengers of Iranian origin refused to disembark from a plane at Brussels Airport on Thursday in protest against the government in Tehran.
"We want the European Union to remove the Islamic leaders from Iran. We want to remove the mullahs from power," Armin Atshgar, a protester, said by mobile phone from the aircraft.
The 59 unarmed passengers were talking to the authorities after other passengers and crew left the Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt and the pilot disabled the plane.
Atshgar said a group of five officials from the Belgian Foreign Ministry had entered the aircraft and spoken to the protesters but he gave no further details.
A spokesman for the ministry had earlier said a "high official" was going to the airport to talk to the protesters.
Atshgar, who said he held a Belgian passport, added that he and his fellow protesters would not leave the aircraft until they had spoken to a member of the European parliament. He said there were children and pregnant women on the plane but added there were no weapons and the mood was calm and safe. He insisted the European Union should help oust Iran's leadership.
"We want to say to all the world's leaders, especially from the European Union, Belgium, France, Britain, Germany and the Netherlands, 'hands off and stop supporting this Islamic rule by removing it from Iran'," Atshgar said.
"We are talking to these people. They are non-violent and it's not a hijacking. It's apparently a group that wants to restore the monarchy in Iran," the Foreign Ministry spokesman said.
Belgium's RTL television said the group handed a statement to police protesting about EU relations with the Islamic Republic.
The EU is negotiating to try to persuade Tehran to curtail sensitive nuclear work which could help it produce a bomb, in return for trade and security benefits.
"They have all got European passports but they are probably all of Iranian origin," Belgian police spokeswoman Els Cleemput said.
A Lufthansa spokesman said the plane, a Boeing 737, had landed at Brussels's Zaventem Airport at 2 p.m. (1300 GMT) on schedule with 103 passengers and crew.
Police said the protesters had refused food, but it was not clear if they were on hunger strike. Air traffic continued as normal at the airport and another plane was allowed to dock in the next bay.
