British Council Says Iranian Employee Residing In UK Released By Iran

The association representing the families issued a statement on Tuesday, saying that authorities cut off the internet when they gathered at the crash site, to prevent sharing of images from the ceremony on social media.

It said that three people were arrested after they were chased by security forces in a situation that seemed like an abduction. They were kept in detention for several hours and were released after security forces erased the memory cards of their cameras.

A low-flying helicopter was also dispatched to the area to further unsettle the participants, the statement added.

It deplored such acts of “harassment and intimidation”, calling on the Islamic Republic to end the persecution of victims’ families who have nothing else to lose.

Ukrainian International Airways flight PS752 was shot down by two air-defense missiles fired by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) in the morning of January 8, 2020, as it took off from Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport, killing all 176 people onboard.

Last week, Canada, Britain, Sweden and Ukraine said they had abandoned efforts to talk to Tehran about reparations for an airliner downed by Iran and would try to settle the matter according to international law.

Alinejad was nominated by Erlend Wiborg, a Progress Party member of the Norwegian parliament.

Wiborg described Alinejad’s nominationin line with Alfred Nobel's will, noting that a very basic factor for peace is respect for people and their freedom. “Respect for people and their freedom of choice will contribute to more peace in the world”, he said.

He highlighted Alinejad’s “fearless way of fight”, which has made her live in exile, and her “activism” that made her a target for a kidnapping plot by Iran’s intelligence agents.

In a tweet announcing her nomination, the New York-based activist said, “It’s important that the fight of Iranian women against gender apartheid is recognized”, adding that “For a peaceful world, it is vital that our struggles with terrorist states is strengthened globally.”

Iran's Intelligence Ministry's plot to abduct the Iranian American journalist drew global outrage from international journalists’ unions and writers associations when it was revealed by US authorities in July 2021.

Among other things, Alinejad has started several online movements against Iran’s compulsory hijab, the latest of which was the trending hashtag #LetUsTalkthat garnered support from hundreds of Iranian social media users.

Political prisoners in Gohardasht Prison said that Abtin’s death is the continuation of the politically motivated serial assassinations – also known as Chain murders of Iran, a series of 1988–98 murders and disappearances of Iranian dissident intellectuals.

They said the Islamic Republic has found new ways to silence the voices of those who are critical of its system, describing Abtin is an example.

Criticizing “inaction” by international human rights organizations, the detainees stated that facing no consequences for its crimes against humanity has emboldened the repression and killing machine of the Islamic Republic.

Earlier in the day, some scuffles were reported following a ceremony to commemorate Abtin in the women’s ward of the Evin Prison, when officials tried to transfer rights activist and photojournalist Alieh Matlabzadeh to the notorious Qarchak Prison.

Abtin died of Covid-19 complications following days of medically induced coma on Saturday after he was denied timely treatment by officials at Tehran’s Evin Prison.

The Iranian Writers' Association said in a statement that his funeral service was held a day ahead of schedule under a heavy presence by security forces because authorities feared a large crowd and protest during the event.

Malley said in a tweet on Monday that the Iranian government has held environmentalist Morad Tahbaz for four years, stressing that he is a father and a cancer victim.

Iran has arrested many dual nationals and foreignners throughout the years, charging them with vague espionage and political offenses.

In a similar call for the fourth anniversary of Tahbaz’s “unfair detention in Iran”, UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said that “Iran must release him and all unfairly detained British nationals to allow them to return to their families. This appalling ordeal must be brought to an end.”

Malley also urged the release of Iranian American businessman Siamak Namazi, who is imprisoned in Iran since October 2015 on charges of collaboration with a foreign government, and his 84-year-old father, Bagher Namazi, a retired senior UNICEF official, also arrested and jailed in 2017 after he went to Iran to visit his son. Both are serving ten-year sentences.

Malley also called on the authorities to free Emad Sharghi, a 56-year-old Iranian American businessman who was arrested in December 2020 and sentenced to 10 years in prison on charges of espionage and collecting military intelligence.

According to a tweet by lawyer Babak Paknia, his client Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani had been convicted of ‘corruption on earth.” Sani, 26, is a former school boxing champion in Mashhad, in Khorasan province, north-east Iran.

Reports on websites run by the Albania-based Mujajideen-e Khalq claim Vafaei Sani, described as a “political prisoner,” had been tortured in jail for two years to force him to confess after his family was unable to afford a 300 billion rial bail (around $1.2 million) set for his release.

Earlier in the month, a report said that more than 365 prisoners were executed in 2021 in Iran, about one death per day. Some executions take place in secret and not reflected in reports.

Human rights organizations and United Nations experts have repeatedly called on Iran to end executions, especially those of juvenile offenders. Iran in 2020 had the second highest number of executions globally (246) after China, with thousands, and ahead of Egypt (107), and Saudi Arabia (27). Amnesty International says Iran has used the death penaltyas a form of political intimidation, and that executions follow unfair trials and may involve confessions made under duress.