London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Sunday, Jul 06, 2025

Belgium reveals aid worker held for months in Iran

Belgium reveals aid worker held for months in Iran

Iran has held Belgian aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele in isolation in jail for five months and his health is deteriorating, his friend has said.

News of his plight emerged on Tuesday when the justice minister revealed a Belgian citizen was accused of spying.

Belgian MPs are due to decide on Wednesday whether to back a law allowing prisoner exchanges with Iran.

"What I want is Olivier free, I don't care how it's done," his friend Olivier Van Steirtegem told the BBC.

While the Belgian government has not linked Vandecasteele's case to the proposed treaty with Iran, it came to light amid increasing political opposition to the plan to legalise prisoner swaps.

Several MPs and a group of former judges have warned that the treaty could set a dangerous precedent by encouraging Iran and other states to take innocent prisoners, with the aim of using them as a bargaining tool.

Members of the dissident Iranian community protested in Brussels on Tuesday against the plan.

Iran has pressed Belgium to release its alleged top intelligence official in Europe, Assadollah Assadi, who was given a 20 year jail sentence in Antwerp last year for plotting to bomb a rally by an exiled Iranian opposition group.

Iran holds a number of European citizens in its prisons, including Brussels university lecturer Prof Ahmadreza Djalali, who has dual Iranian-Swedish citizenship. An emergency medicine specialist, he was arrested during a business trip in 2016 and sentenced to death the following year after what human rights groups say was a grossly unfair trial on a charge of spying.

The planned prisoner exchange treaty was initially assumed to involve Prof Djalali, until news broke of the Vandecasteele case.

Ahead of a vote in parliament on Wednesday, Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne said it was Belgium's "moral duty" to help Vandecasteele and return innocent Belgians to their families. "I can't say any more about it, also on the family's request... people's lives are at stake," he said.

For several years Olivier Vandecasteele ran operations in Iran for the Norwegian Refugee Council


A close friend for over 20 years, Olivier Van Steirtegem told the BBC that the aid worker was arrested by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and taken to Tehran's notorious Evin prison, where he has been allowed only two brief visits by the ambassador since he was arrested in February.

Vandecasteele, 41, had previously worked in Iran as country director for the Norwegian Refugee Council as well as other agencies, working closely with the Afghan community after working in Kabul. "He's purely humanitarian, not political... an innocent guy in jail," he said.

His friend said he had returned to Tehran in February to close down his apartment against Belgian government advice: "We need to put ourselves in his shoes: he was living there for five or six years - his life was there. He had to go back."

Information has been hard to come by but his friend said there was no bed or furniture in his cell and his health was deteriorating: "He's eating nothing but potatoes, lentils and sugar; he's lost 15kg and has an infection. The Iranians said he'd seen a doctor but the doctor couldn't speak English."

Earlier this year a British-Iranian national, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, was released almost six years after she was arrested on spying charges while visiting Iran with her daughter. She too was held in Evin prison. Iran freed her after months of negotiations and after the UK paid a historic £400m debt.

Mr Van Steirtegem said he was in daily contact with his friend's family: "Anyone in Europe or the UK can understand being in this situation - he's done nothing wrong and is the object of a policy of blackmail," he said.

While he understood objections to the treaty in parliament, it was the only hope for Vandecasteele being released any time soon.

Among the MPs to object to a deal, Flemish Nationalist Peter de Roover said it signalled to "rogue states" that Belgians could be used as bargaining chips without doing anything wrong.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
London Stock Exchange Faces Historic Low in Initial Public Offerings
A new online platform has emerged in the United Kingdom, specifically targeting Muslim men seeking virgin brides
Trump Celebrates Independence Day with B-2 Flyover and Signs Controversial Legislation
Boris Johnson Urges Conservatives to Ignore Farage
SNP Ordered to Update Single-Sex Space Guidance Within Days
Starmer Set to Reject Calls for Wealth Taxes
Stolen Century-Old Rolls-Royce Recovered After Hotel Theft
Macron Presses Starmer to Recognise Palestinian State
Labour Delayed Palestine Action Ban Over Riot Concerns
Swinney’s Tax Comments ‘Offensive to Scots’, Say Tories
High Street Retailers to Enforce Bans on Serial Shoplifters
Music Banned by Henry VIII to Be Performed After 500 Years
Steve Coogan Says Working Class Is Being ‘Ethnically Cleansed’
Home Office Admits Uncertainty Over Visa Overstayer Numbers
JD Vance Questions Mandelson Over Reform Party’s Rising Popularity
Macron to Receive Windsor Carriage Ride in Royal Gesture
Labour Accused of ‘Hammering’ Scots During First Year in Power
BBC Head of Music Stood Down Amid Bob Vylan Controversy
Corbyn Eyes Hard-Left Challenge to Starmer’s Leadership
London Tube Trains Suspended After Major Fire Erupts Nearby
Richard Kemp: I Felt Safer in Israel Under Attack Than in the UK
Cyclist Says Police Cited Human Rights Act for Riding No-Handed
China’s Central Bank Consults European Peers on Low-Rate Strategies
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
Musk Battles to Protect Tesla Amid Trump Policy Threats
Air France-KLM Acquires Majority Stake in Scandinavian Airlines
UK Educators Sound Alarm on Declining Child Literacy
Shein Fined €40 Million in France Over Misleading Discounts
Brazil’s Lula Visits Kirchner During Argentina House Arrest
Trump Scores Legislative Win as House Passes Tax Reform Bill
Keir Starmer Faces Criticism After Rocky First Year in Power
DJI Launches Heavy-Duty Coaxial Quadcopter with 80 kg Lift Capacity
U.S. Senate Approves Major Legislation Dubbed the 'Big Beautiful Bill'
Largest Healthcare Fraud Takedown in U.S. History Announced by DOJ
Poland Implements Border Checks Amid Growing Migration Tensions
Political Dispute Escalates Between Trump and Musk
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
Amazon Reaches Milestone with Deployment of One Millionth Robot
US Senate Votes to Remove AI Regulation Moratorium from Domestic Policy Bill
Yulia Putintseva Calls for Spectator Ejection at Wimbledon Over Safety Concerns
Jury Deliberations in Diddy Trial Yield Partial Verdict in Serious Criminal Charges
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
King Charles Plans Significant Role for Prince Harry in Coronation
Two Chinese Nationals Arrested for Espionage Activities Against U.S. Navy
Amazon Reaches Major Automation Milestone with Over One Million Robots
Extreme Heat Wave Sweeps Across Europe, Hitting Record Temperatures
Meta Announces Formation of Ambitious AI Unit, Meta Superintelligence Labs
Robots Compete in Football Tournament in China Amid Injuries
×