(Brussels Times) Belgium’s Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne has contradicted an announcement made by Iran that the much-discussed prisoner swap to free Belgian aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele has been agreed.
Despite long efforts to broker an agreement that would see Vandecasteele liberated in exchange for the release from prison of Iranian diplomat-terrorist Assadollah Assadi, rumours that a deal had been secured were contradicted by Van Quickenborne and Vandecasteele’s family.
The Belgian aid worker has been detained in Iran since February 2022 and will reportedly be exchanged for Iranian diplomat Assadi, a spokesperson for the Iranian judiciary, Masoud Setayeshi, told Reuters. Assadi is a convicted Iranian terrorist who was sentenced in February 2021 to 20 years in prison in Belgium for his involvement in a foiled Paris bombing.
