Mohammad Dehghan said on Saturday that the detention and trial of Assadollah Assadi, a former Iranian diplomat, was a blatant violation of the basic principle of diplomatic immunity and his release showed the Islamic Republic's determination to safeguard the rights of Iranian nationals all over the world.
He congratulated the country’s diplomatic apparatus and the Assadi family on his release.
Assadollah Assadi, a former Iranian diplomat imprisoned in Belgium on false charges, returned home after five years on Friday.
Belgian police arrested Assadi in June 2018, accusing him of plotting an attack against the MKO terrorist organization, a claim that has been strongly rejected by the former diplomat and Iranian authorities.
A Belgian court then sentenced Assadi, who had served as the third counselor at Iran's Embassy in Vienna, to 20 years in prison.
Iran had repeatedly condemned the violation of Assadi's diplomatic immunity and made every effort to secure his release in negotiations with Belgian authorities.
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