Belgian man held in Iran for 'espionage'

Iran has been holding a Belgian man for the past four months under "espionage" charges, Belgium's justice minister said Tuesday, as his country weighed a controversial prisoner swap treaty with Tehran.

The man was seized in Iran on February 24 and has been in "illegal" detention since, the minister, Vincent Van Quickenborne, told Belgian MPs without identifying him.

Belgium last year imprisoned an Iranian diplomat for 20 years after his conviction under "terrorist" charges for plotting a bomb attack outside Paris in 2018.