Belgian Court Halts Treaty Which Could See Release Of Iranian Agent Convicted In Foiled Bombing

(New York, N.Y.) — Belgium’s Supreme Court has suspended a prisoner exchange treaty with Iran, which could have resulted in the release of a former Iranian diplomat and Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) operative, Assadollah Assadi, serving a 20 year prison sentence for having ‘masterminded’ a failed bomb plot that would have murdered former U.S. and European officials – as well as a former prime minister of Canada. His release was possible under the terms of a treaty between Belgium and the Iranian regime signed just 15 days after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) took Belgian humanitarian aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele hostage in February 2022. The court’s suspension of the treaty is pending a final ruling within three months.

The treaty allows Iranians convicted in Belgium, and Belgians convicted in Iran, to serve their prison sentences in their country of origin. It is opposed by Belgian and American lawmakers and human rights groups, former senior U.S. national security officials, and Iranian exiles. United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) has previously stated that the treaty serves “as a clear indicator for Iran that its abominable hostage-taking policy is a legitimate and effective means to get what it wants” and suggested that “the best way to meaningfully force Iran … [to] release its hostages is for Belgium, the U.S, and the rest of Europe to exact a price from Iran for its hostage taking.”  

Assadi, who operated under diplomatic cover from the Embassy of Iran in Vienna, was part of the Iranian regime’s vast network of intelligence agents engaging in covert intelligence operations as a part of the regime’s global terror campaign. Iran’s primary intelligence agencies, the Ministry of Intelligence (MOIS) and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Intelligence Organization (IRGC-IO), have participated in assassinations and terror attacks, both domestically and internationally, and facilitated repression of religious and political dissenters.  

To read UANI’s resource Iran’s Malign Intelligence Activities, please click here. 

For more than 40 years, Iran has continued to take Americans and other Westerners hostage to serve as a bargaining chip for the regime. Vandecasteele is being held in solitary confinement in Evin Prison, where the U.S. says “prisoners are subject to brutal tactics inflicted by prison authorities, including sexual assaults, physical assaults, and electric shock.” His cell contains no bed or other furniture. According to his family, he began a hunger strike last month to protest his mistreatment.  

To read UANI’s resource American and Western Hostages, please click here.