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INSANE: Olivier vandecasteele - The Real Truth

Newsletter: Kallas warns against NATO doom talk amid Greenland tensions

Also in this newsletter: how pressure is mounting on the EU to get tough on Iran's Revolutionary Guard, and the view from Cyprus as Ursula von der Leyen's team visits to mark the start of the EU Council presidency.

Euronews

Former hostage says cutting diplomatic ties with Iran will pressure regime

Former hostage in Iran and humanitarian worker Olivier Vandercaesteele says that severing diplomatic ties with Iran will put added pressure on the Islamic regime and hamper its ability to influence policymakers.

Euronews

Three Europeans freed by Iran arrive home

BRUSSELS: One Dane and two Austrian-Iranian citizens released from detention by Tehran arrived in their home countries on Saturday, after the latest in a series of prisoner swaps.

Bangkok Post

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Three more Europeans exchanged for Iran's Assadi in prisoner swap

Three more Europeans have been released by Iran in return for Iranian diplomat Asadollah Assadi as part of a prisoner swap in which Iran released Belgian aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele last week, a spokesperson for the Belgian government said.

Reuters

Freed Belgian aid worker lost weight, not sense of humour, during Iran ordeal

Freed Belgian aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele lost 30 kg (66 lb) but not his sense of humour during over a year in an Iranian jail, his spokesman said on Saturday following his release in a prisoner swap.

Reuters

Paris bomb plot mastermind swapped with aid worker in Iran-Belgium deal

Belgium and Iran exchanged prisoners on Friday in a controversial move that saw an Iranian diplomat convicted of attempting to bomb exiles in France returning to Tehran bedecked in flowers while a visibly gaunt aid worker headed back to Brussels.

Radio France Internationale

Belgium, Iran conduct prisoner swap in Oman, freeing aid worker and diplomat convicted in bomb plot

Belgium and Iran have conducted a rare prisoner exchange in Oman

The Independent UK

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Belgium aid worker freed in prisoner swap with Iranian diplomat jailed for bomb plot

Deal to release Olivier Vandecasteele in exchange for Assadollah Assadi raises concerns Tehran’s hostage diplomacy has been rewarded

The Guardian - UK

Aid worker back in Belgium after Iranian diplomat prisoner swap

A Belgian aid worker arrived back in Belgium on Friday night from Iran, where he had been accused of spying and jailed until being freed in a prisoner swap with an Iranian diplomat who had been imprisoned in Belgium in connection with a failed bomb plot.

Reuters

Iran, Belgium conduct prisoner swap freeing aid worker, diplomat

Iranian diplomat Assadollah Assadi and Belgian aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele freed, in deal facilitated by Oman.

Al Jazeera

Belgian aid worker, Iranian diplomat freed in prisoner exchange

Iran freed Belgian aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele after almost 15 months in custody on Friday, in a prisoner exchange for Iranian diplomat Assadollah Assadi, who had been convicted of terrorism. Vandecasteele landed in Belgium late Friday after being repatriated in a military aircraft, according to images broadcast on television.

France 24

Belgium is looking into Iran's request to free jailed diplomat in swap - PM

The Belgian government is currently examining Iran's request to transfer jailed Iranian diplomat Asadollah Assadi in exchange for jailed Belgian aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said in parliament on Thursday.

Reuters

Belgium Says No Deal Reached to Free Jailed Iran Diplomat in Swap

Belgium said on Wednesday an Iranian diplomat jailed there for 20 years will not soon be released in a prisoner swap, apparently contradicting Iran's judiciary. In March, Belgium's Constitutional Court upheld a prisoner exchange treaty with Iran that could lead to Asadollah Assadi being swapped for jailed Belgian aid worker…

Asharq Al-Awsat

Belgium Requests Iran Transfer Imprisoned Aid Worker

Belgium submitted a request to Iran on Tuesday that jailed aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele be sent back to his country, which has agreed to a prisoner transfer treaty with Iran. Belgian Vandecasteele was arrested on a visit to Iran in February 2022 and sentenced in January to 40 years in…

Asharq Al-Awsat

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Reuters

Belgium requests Iran transfer imprisoned Belgian aid worker

Belgium submitted a request to Iran on Tuesday that jailed aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele be sent back to his country, which has agreed a prisoner transfer treaty with Iran.

Bangkok Post

Belgium PM tells Iranian leader to free aid worker

BRUSSELS - Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo on Wednesday urged Iran's president to "immediately" set free an aid worker held by Tehran in a case denounced as hostage diplomacy.

Radio France Internationale

Last chance for Belgium-Iran prisoner swap treaty that would free aid worker

Belgium's Constitutional Court on Wednesday started its final hearing on an extradition treaty with Iran that would allow the transfer of Assadollah Assadi, an Iranian diplomat who is accused of masterminding a bomb plot in Paris in 2018. But the treaty would also allow the release of Belgian aid worker…

Asharq Al-Awsat

Paris Rallies Demand Release of Europeans Imprisoned in Iran

Families and friends of a growing number of Europeans imprisoned in Iran gathered in Paris on Saturday to call for their release. The French government this week denounced the plight of seven French citizens held in Iranian prisons, calling the detentions “unjustifiable and unacceptable.” Iran has detained a number of…

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The Independent UK

France urges release of 7 nationals imprisoned in Iran

France has called for the “immediate release” of seven French nationals detained in Iran

Asharq Al-Awsat

Thousands Protest in Brussels Demanding Release of Belgian Aid Worker in Iran

Thousands of people took to the streets of Brussels on Sunday to protest against the detention in Iran of Belgian aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele, who was sentenced to 40 years in prison on charges including spying. The Belgian government has said the charges are fake. "His life is in danger,…

Reuters

Thousands protest in Brussels demanding release of Belgian aid worker in Iran

Asharq Al-Awsat

UN Experts Say Arrest of Belgian Citizen in Iran Violates Int’l Law

UN rights experts have condemned Iran’s “arbitrary” detention of Belgian aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele and demanded his immediate release. “We believe Mr. Vandecasteele has been arbitrarily deprived of his liberty and is a victim of enforced disappearance for periods of detention,” the independent UN human rights experts said in a…

Radio France Internationale

Iran sentences Belgian aid worker to 40 years in prison, 74 lashes

A court in Tehran has sentenced a Belgian aid worker to four decades in prison and 74 lashes after convicting him on espionage and smuggling charges.

Asharq Al-Awsat

Iran Sentences Belgian Aid Worker to Prison, Lashes

Iran has sentenced a Belgian aid worker to a lengthy prison term and 74 lashes after convicting him of espionage charges in a closed-door trial, state media reported Tuesday. The website of Iran’s judiciary said a Revolutionary Court sentenced 41-year-old Olivier Vandecasteele to 12.5 years in prison for espionage, 12.5…

Al Jazeera

Iran sentences Belgian national to 40 years in prison, 74 lashes

Relations between Iran and Belgium have increasingly soured following the arrest of an Iranian diplomat in 2018.

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