(Politico) Iran has released Olivier Vandecasteele, a Belgian humanitarian worker who had been detained in Iran for more than a year, in exchange for convicted terrorist Assadollah Assadi, who had been imprisoned in Belgium.
“Olivier Vandecasteele is on his way to Belgium,” Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said Friday. “If all goes as planned, he will be with us tonight.”
Vandecasteele is expected to land at the Melsbroek military base between 9 and 9:30 p.m. Friday night, the Belgian government said during a press conference.
The authorities confirmed that the Belgian aid worker had been exchanged for Assadi, but without using a controversial bilateral agreement which would allow Iranians convicted in Belgium to serve their sentence in Iran, and vice-versa.
