BRUSSELS: Three more Europeans are being released by Iran in return for Iranian diplomat Asadollah Assadi as part of a prisoner swap in which Iran released Belgian aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele last week, a spokesperson for the Belgian government said.

A Danish national and two people with dual Austrian-Iranian nationality are involved, the spokesperson said.

Assadi was convicted in Belgium in 2021 in connection to a foiled bomb plot in France and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

In a statement, the Belgian government said that the Danish person was arrested in Iran in November 2022 in connection with women’s rights demonstrations.

The two dual nationals were “wrongfully arrested in … January 2016 and January 2019”, the government said.

After medical tests, the three will be flown to Belgium’s military airport in Melsbroek following a stop in Oman.