“Iran ran out of patience”

According to the prime minister, the procedure “posed a danger to Olivier, because weeks of debate would have been necessary”.

Vandecasteele was traded for Iranian mock diplomat, convicted of terrorism, Assadolah Assadi. When asked whether the government could not have previously invoked Article 167 of the Constitution, which assigns the King – read the government – the foreign policy of the country, De Croo replied “that we wanted to follow a parliamentary procedure, in a legal and democratic framework. The parliamentary debate was not evident, but there was a majority in favor of using the extradition treaty”.

“That is a very, very, very difficult dilemma, but at a certain point I made my choice: we will not leave an innocent Belgian behind. I have heard many people say ‘Olivier must be released’, but no one has explained how” , says Alexander De Croo, who says he has no regrets, “but we will make the analysis in the coming weeks and months”.