Iran to pass controversial prisoner swap treaty with Belgium

The Iranian government has formally submitted to parliament the bill on a prisoner exchange treaty with Belgium.

Iranian lawmakers will carry out legislative procedures pertaining to the bill that comes with 22 articles, laying out Iran-Belgium judicial cooperation with the aim of "strengthening ties between the two governments," the IRNA news agency reported on July 25.

Central to the bill is the case of Assadollah Assadi, an Iranian diplomat currently serving time in a Belgian prison. Assadi was convicted last year of terror-related offences over involvement in a foiled bombing plot targeting a 2015 Paris convention of the exiled Mojahedin-e Khalq Organisation opposition group.

Iran has been hoping the treaty would pave the way for Assadi's return home. Speculation has also been rife that Iran is planning to exchange Assadi with Belgian aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele, who is currently jailed in Iran.

The Belgian parliament passed the treaty on July 20. But three days later a court temporarily suspended Assadi's deportation, setting a €500,000 penalty on any violation of its order.

In an article published on July 23, the IRNA news agency argued that Assadi's sentence was in breach of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations in the first place. It said the ruling was issued under pressure from Belgian opposition groups that were attempting to bring in the judiciary to tie the government's hands in the implementation of the treaty.