Belgian Aid Worker and Iranian Diplomat Freed in Prisoner Swap

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

54% : The aid worker, Olivier Vandecasteele, was flown late Thursday from Tehran to Muscat, the capital of Oman, where the exchange took place, Belgium's prime minister, Alexander De Croo, said on Friday.
45% : Mr. Vandecasteele had worked in Iran for five years until he lost his job in March 2021 and left the country.
35% : The Belgian government had called Mr. Vandecasteele's imprisonment arbitrary and said Iran had provided no information on the case.
33% : Belgium's Parliament approved a much-criticized treaty with Iran in July of last year that allowed for prisoner exchanges between the two countries.
32% : Critics of the treaty said that the country was surrendering to a form of blackmail from Iran, which puts foreigners more at risk of being taken hostage.
24% :Iran freed a Belgian aid worker imprisoned in Tehran for 455 days on charges of spying, in exchange for Belgium releasing a former Iranian diplomat who was convicted in 2021 of a thwarted bomb plot.

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