Belgium and Iran conduct prisoner swap in Oman

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

54% : Oman's Sultan Haitham bin Tariq was already scheduled to visit Tehran this weekend before the announced prisoner swap.
48% : Belgium and Iran have conducted a prisoner exchange in Oman.
47% :Oman has long served as an interlocutor for the West with Iran.
45% : An image from video footage released by Iran state TV, IRINN, of Assadollah Assadi, an Iranian diplomat who was released in a prisoner swap with Belgium (IRINN via AP/PA)Oman's foreign ministry said that "those released were transferred from Tehran and Brussels to Muscat today, Friday, in preparation for their return to their countries".
44% : Officials said Tehran has released a Belgian aid worker in exchange for an Iranian diplomat convicted of attempting to bomb a meeting of exiles in France.
43% :Iran has carried out kidnappings and other plots against dissidents abroad in the past.
40% : Vandecasteele was arrested in Iran in February 2022 while packing up his belongings, after working with the Norwegian Refugee Council and Relief International in the Islamic Republic from 2015 to 2021, according to Amnesty International.
40% : Iran, facing Western sanctions over its rapidly advancing nuclear program, has faced protests in recent months and economic strain.
37% :Iran denied Assadi's involvement.
33% :Iran has detained a number of foreigners and dual nationals over the years, accusing them of espionage or other state security offenses and sentencing them following secretive trials in which rights groups say they have been denied due process.
32% : In January, Iran sentenced Vandecasteele to a lengthy prison term and 74 lashes after convicting him of espionage in a closed-door trial.
32% : Critics have repeatedly accused Iran of using such prisoners as bargaining chips with the West.
31% :"Olivier spent 455 days in prison in Tehran.
21% :"This will embolden the religious fascism ruling Iran to continue its crimes in Iran through repression and regional and international terrorism," the group said.

*Our bias meter rating uses data science including sentiment analysis, machine learning and our proprietary algorithm for determining biases in news articles. Bias scores are on a scale of -100% to 100% with higher negative scores being more liberal and higher positive scores being more conservative, and 0% being neutral. The rating is an independent analysis and is not affiliated nor sponsored by the news source or any other organization.