{"id":262312,"date":"2022-08-13T12:05:43","date_gmt":"2022-08-13T10:05:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=262312"},"modified":"2023-01-28T01:08:45","modified_gmt":"2023-01-28T00:08:45","slug":"benefits-of-releasing-iranian-terrorists-come-nowhere-near-to-justifying-the-costs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/iran-belgium-treaty-prisoners\/benefits-of-releasing-iranian-terrorists-come-nowhere-near-to-justifying-the-costs\/","title":{"rendered":"Benefits of Releasing Iranian Terrorists Come Nowhere Near To Justifying the Costs"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Iran-assadollah-assadi-diplomat-terrorist-06022021\"
The Iranian regime\u2019s diplomat terrorist Assadollah Assadi<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By: Alejo Vidal-Quadras<\/strong><\/p>\n

Until the Belgian Government gives us solid reasons to conclude otherwise, we must, unfortunately, assume that each passing day brings us closer to releasing a duly convicted Iranian terrorist from custody. We must also assume that Iranian authorities are looking forward to that outcome every bit as much as we are dreading it and that their expectations are already guiding their actions and future plans.<\/p>\n

The signing of the treaty for \u201cTransfer of Sentenced Persons\u201d was one of the most shameful<\/a> incidents in Belgium\u2019s recent history, exceeded only by that treaty\u2019s ratification along party lines. The resulting national shame will be compounded beyond measure if the treaty is actually implemented for the purpose of freeing Assadollah Assadi<\/a>, the former Iranian diplomat who was caught red-handed in 2018, leading a plot to bomb an international gathering of Iranian activists and sympathetic Western dignitaries.<\/p>\n

Some might argue that Assadi\u2019s release is a moral compromise worth making if it means saving even one European national from protracted suffering and possible death inside Iran\u2019s inhumane prison system. Such arguments are painfully short-sighted insofar as they ignore the long-term impact that the treaty will surely have on other Western nationals, global security, and Western interests as a whole.<\/p>\n

It is generally expected that if Assadi is released, it will be as part of a prisoner swap also involving the Belgian aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele, who was apparently taken hostage by Iranian authorities in February, almost exactly a year after Assadi was convicted of conspiracy to commit terrorism and mass murder and sentenced to 20 years in prison. It remains to be seen what other concessions might accompany this swap, but the Iranian regime has a long history of demanding and receiving outsized rewards for simply suspending its torture of Western hostages.<\/p>\n

This is to say that Tehran has already been given ample reason to believe that hostage-taking constitutes an effective and lucrative strategy for dealing with foreign adversaries. That is why the regime currently holds at least 20 European and American citizens and permanent residents in detention on unsubstantiated or demonstrably false charges.
\nUp to this point, the expectation has been that these people could be used as bargaining chips to secure the release of Iranians convicted abroad for sanctions violations or petty crimes. However, Assad’s release would give Tehran a whole new set of incentives for hostage-taking by revealing that that practice can actually encourage Western policymakers to look the other way on serious terrorist activities.<\/p>\n

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Treaty With Mullahs Encourages Further Terrorism and Hostage-taking
Iranian Resistance Will Continue Examining All Political and Legal Avenues and Options To Prevent Extradition of Terrorist-diplomat to #Iran<\/a>#DontFreeTerrorists<\/a> #No2Appeasement<\/a>https:\/\/t.co\/rYgIXQ5hxF<\/a><\/p>\n

— Mohammad Mohaddessin (@Mohaddessin) July 21, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n