Vienna and Copenhagen have announced that Iran has freed two Austrian and one Danish national who had been detained there. They also expressed gratitude to Oman and Belgium for their assistance in securing the release of the three.
Alexander Schallenberg, the foreign minister of Austria, expressed his relief on Friday (June 2) that Kamran Ghaderi and Massud Mossaheb were returning home after “years of arduous detention 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,” reported Al Jazeera.
He refused to name the individual, claiming that it was “a personal matter” and that he was unable to provide any information.
In addition to thanking Belgium, Lkke Rasmussen stated that Oman “played an important role”.
Schallenberg praised the foreign ministers of Oman and Belgium for their “valuable support” but did not specify how it was provided.
Shortly before the announcement, an Oman Royal Air Force Gulfstream IV that had been parked in Tehran for many days took off.
The three will be transported to Belgium’s military airfield in Melsbroek following a stop in Oman and medical examinations, according to Prime Minister Alexander De Croo.
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Oman’s assistance
Oman has previously served as an intermediary and enjoys strong relations with both Iran and Western nations. The disclosures follow the first visit to Iran by Omani Sultan Haitham bin Tariq, who will take over as the Arab country’s monarch in 2020.
An Iranian-Austrian businessman named Ghaderi was detained in 2016 and given a 10-year prison term for allegedly espionage for the United States, claims that his supporters vehemently deny.
Austria had come under fire from his family in recent years for remaining silent about his situation.
Mossaheb, a businessman who is also Iranian and Austrian, was detained in 2019 and sentenced to 10 years in jail following what Amnesty International termed “a grossly unfair trial for vague national security offences.”
According to Amnesty, Mossaheb had diabetes and heart disease, making his detention even more hazardous.
Friday’s release was not immediately announced by Iranian official media.
Olivier Vandecasteele, a Belgian relief worker, was released last week as part of a prisoner swap between Belgium and Iran.
Assadollah Assadi, an Iranian diplomat who had been detained for a 2018 bombing plan on an Iranian opposition gathering outside of Paris, was released by Belgium in return.
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The exchange was criticised for encouraging Tehran to use Belgian hostages as negotiating chips to get the release of operatives like Assadi who had been detained for “terror” acts in the West.
Iranian authorities have recently imprisoned a number of foreigners and dual citizens, typically on charges of espionage or other crimes related to state security. Rights organisations have characterised the arrests as a strategy to obtain concessions from other countries by fabricating allegations, a claim Tehran rejects.
