Assadi Prisoner Exchange

On 26 May 2023, Belgium and Iran conducted a prisoner exchange brokered by Oman. Belgium released Assadollah Assadi, a senior Ministry of Intelligence (MOIS) officer convicted in 2021 by a Belgian court of planning a thwarted bomb attack against a Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK) rally in Villepinte, France, in 2018. Assadi had been sentenced to 20 years in prison. In exchange, Iran freed Belgian aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele, who had been sentenced to 40 years, 74 lashes, and a $1 million fine on espionage charges.

The exchange drew widespread international condemnation. The National Council of Resistance of Iran accused Belgium of paying a 'shameful ransom to terrorism and hostage-taking,' warning it would embolden Iran's hostage diplomacy. Belgium had passed a controversial bilateral treaty with Iran in 2022 specifically to enable the transfer.