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Iran Releases Three More Europeans after Prisoner Swap

June 2, 2023
2 min read
The latest releases came days after the Islamic Republic freed a Belgian aid worker in exchange for an Iranian diplomat jailed in Belgium in connection with a foiled bomb plot
The latest releases came days after the Islamic Republic freed a Belgian aid worker in exchange for an Iranian diplomat jailed in Belgium in connection with a foiled bomb plot

Iranian authorities have released one Danish citizen and two people with dual Austrian-Iranian nationality who were unjustly held in detention in Iran, the European countries said on June 2.

Oman and Belgium played a role in the releases, which came days after the Islamic Republic freed a Belgian aid worker in exchange for an Iranian diplomat jailed in Belgium in connection with a foiled bomb plot.

Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg said he was “very relieved” that Kamran Ghaderi and Massoud Mossaheb were coming back home after “years of arduous imprisonment in Iran.”

Denmark’s Foreign Minister, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, said he was “happy and relieved that a Danish citizen is on his way home to his family in Denmark after imprisonment in Iran.” He didn’t name the person.

Schallenberg thanked the foreign ministers of Belgium and Oman for providing “valuable support.” Rasmussen also thanked Belgium and said that Oman ”played an important role.” The two ministers did not elaborate.

Belgian Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib tweeted that her country had “successfully secured the release of two Austrians and one Dane who were unjustly held in detention in Iran.”

Iranian officials and state media did not immediately acknowledge a release.

There was no immediate word on what, if anything, the Islamic Republic obtained in return for the latest releases.

Last week, a prisoner exchange deal between Belgium and Iran, mediated by Oman, returned to Tehran Assadollah Assadi, an Iranian diplomat sentenced to 20 years in prison in Belgium for having plotted to bomb a rally of an exiled opposition group outside Paris in 2018. 

Belgian aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele headed back to Brussels as part of the swap after spending 15 months in arbitrary detention in Iran.

Oman has long served as an interlocutor for Western countries with Iran. The release of the Danish and Austrian nationals comes after Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq visited Iran.

Ghaderi is an Iranian-Austrian businessman who was arrested in 2016 and sentenced to 10 years in prison for allegedly spying for the United States.

Mossaheb, also an Iranian-Austrian businessman, was arrested in 2019 and received a 10-year prison sentence on national security charges. 

In a statement, the Belgian government said that the Danish person was arrested in November 2022 in connection with women’s rights demonstrations.

It said the trio will be flown to Belgium following a stop in Oman.

Western governments have repeatedly accused the Islamic Republic of taking dual and foreign nationals hostage to use them in prisoner swaps or as a bargaining chip in international negotiations.

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