“At the moment that I am speaking to you, the Belgian Olivier Vandecasteele is on the way to Belgium. If all goes according to plan, he will be with us tonight. Finally free,” Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo announced on Friday.
At the same time, an Iranian diplomat jailed in Belgium has also been released. “Mr. Assadollah Assadi, the innocent diplomat of our country, who was illegally detained in Germany and Belgium for five years against international law, is now on his way back to his homeland and will soon enter our beloved Iran,” tweeted Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.
Assadi was one of four Iranians convicted of plotting to bomb a 2018 anti-Iran regime rally in Paris and sentenced by a Belgian court in 2021. Believed to be the mastermind of the planned attack, Assadi was handed 20 years in jail. Tehran condemned the verdict.
Vandecasteele was detained in Tehran in 2022 and convicted a year later on charges of spying, money laundering, and cooperating with the US against Iran. He was sentenced to 40 years in jail and 74 lashes.
On Thursday night, Vandecasteele was brought to Oman and handed over to Belgian authorities, according to De Croo.
The exchange was mediated by Oman at the request of Tehran and Brussels “to assist in resolving the issue of detained citizens in both countries,” read a statement from Oman’s foreign ministry, adding that “the Omani efforts have resulted in an agreement between the two sides for a mutual exchange deal.”
Iran’s foreign minister thanked Oman “for its positive efforts in this direction.”
Tehran is frequently accused of using prisoners as bargaining chips with the West.
