Two Austrians and one Dane freed
Two Austrians, one Danish and three Europeans released by Iranian authorities arrived in Belgium on the 3rd (local time).
AFP reported that the plane carrying them arrived at Melsbruck Military Airport outside Brussels at 2:45 am (local time).
Belgian Foreign Minister Hazard Laviv and diplomats from Denmark and Austria went out to meet them at the airport.
Earlier, the Iranian judiciary announced the release of Austrians Kamran Gaderi and Massoud Masaheb, as well as a Danish national whose identity has not been released.
‘Nur News’, linked to Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, reported that the name of the freed Dane was ‘Benaz Zakeri Ansari’.
Gaderi was arrested in 2016 and sentenced to 10 years in prison for spying for the United States, while Masaheb was arrested in 2019 and sentenced to 10 years in prison for passing on Iranian military and nuclear information to German and Israeli intelligence agencies. sentenced to years
Ansari was arrested for participating in anti-government protests in Iran in November last year. Iranian authorities claimed that he was a member of the Iranian dissident group, the People’s Mujahideen Organization (MEK).
On the other hand, human rights groups have accused the Iranian authorities of arresting a large number of foreigners and dual nationals for espionage or violating national security and using them as a bargaining chip for exchanging prisoners.
The Belgian government is aware that “at least 22 innocent European nationals are still detained in Iran”.
The release of these three is seen as part of a recent prisoner exchange between Iran and European countries.
On the 26th of last month, Belgian authorities released Iranian diplomat Assadola Assadi from detention in Belgium.
Assadi, a former diplomat based in Vienna, Austria, was sentenced to 20 years in prison in June 2018 for conspiring to bomb an Iranian refugee political group event in France.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.