In addition to Belgian national Olivier Vandecasteele, Belgium freed three more innocent Europeans (two people from Austria and one from Denmark) from their cells in Iran on Friday.
The three Europeans have just stepped onto a plane in Iran's capital Tehran and are on their way to the Omani capital of Muscat. From there, they will be transferred to a Belgian plane and flown to Melsbroek Military Airport, just outside of Brussels, Het Laatste Nieuws reports.
"We will continue advocating for the release and humane treatment of all Europeans unjustly held in Iran," announced Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo on Twitter, confirming that the three had left Iran.
The release of the three people was part of the deal with Iran, which saw the release of convicted Iranian terrorist Assadollah Assadi (who was sentenced to 20 years in prison in Belgium in February 2021 for his involvement in a foiled Paris bombing) in exchange for Vandecasteele.
There were attempts to free the Europeans earlier this week, but there were complications each time. However, at around 14:30 on 2 June, the release was confirmed and everything reportedly went according to plan.
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As soon as Belgium started negotiating with Iran, demands to free compatriots followed from many other European countries; there are many European citizens (arbitrarily) imprisoned in Iran.
Similarly, there was a demand from Sweden to release Swedish-Iranian scientist Ahmadreza Djalali, who was a visiting professor at the VUB and was sentenced to death in Iran for espionage. Eventually, however, Djalali's release was refused by the Iranian authorities.
