Belgium and Iran conduct prisoner exchange

Belgium and Iran have carried out a prisoner exchange through the Sultanate of Oman. Aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele has been released.

Bỉ, Iran tiến hành trao đổi tù nhân. Hình ảnh Olivier Vandecasteele được nhìn thấy đang trên đường đến Bỉ sau khi được trả tự do ở Iran. (Nguồn CNN)

Belgium and Iran have carried out a prisoner exchange. Aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele is pictured on his way back to Belgium after being released. (Source: CNN)

Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said that aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele had been released. The Belgian leader stressed that for him “the choice was always clear – Olivier’s life was always the most important”.

According to the Belgian leader, Mr Vandecasteele has been unjustly detained in Iran for 455 days, adding that “in Belgium, we do not abandon anyone. At least one innocent person”, regardless of the legal and diplomatic consequences.

In another development, Iranian state television later showed footage of diplomat Assadollah Assadi being greeted at the airport by Iran's judiciary chief and the secretary of the country's human rights council, Kazem Gharibabadi. Assadi wore a garland around his neck and held a bouquet of flowers.

The prisoner exchange took place in Oman, a country that has long acted as a mediator between the West and Iran. "The Sultanate of Oman appreciates the positive spirit that prevailed during the negotiations between Iran and Belgium in Muscat and their interest in resolving this humanitarian issue," the Oman Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Earlier in the day, Oman's Foreign Ministry announced that Belgium and Iran had reached an agreement brokered by Muscat to release the detained individuals.

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