Families Of Jailed Iranian-Americans Urge Biden To Prioritize Their Release
Families of Iranian-American citizens currently jailed in Iran have called on the Biden administration to prioritize their release from the Islamic Republic.
Families of Iranian-American citizens currently jailed in Iran have called on the Biden administration to prioritize their release from the Islamic Republic.
Families of businessman Emad Sharghi, conservationist Morad Taahbaz, Siamak and Bagher Namazi as well as retired captain in Iran’s merchant navy Shahab Dalili -- who is a permanent resident of the US -- gathered in front of the White House on Wednesday.
Late in April, a number of US officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley, called on Tehran to release Sharghi and stop its policy of holding people as political pawns.
“For four years, the Shargi (Sharghi) family has waited anxiously for the Iranian government to release Emad”, Blinken said.
The 56-year-old businessman has been sentenced to ten years in prison on charges of espionage and collecting military intelligence but had attempted to flee while on bail awaiting the result of an appeal.
Morad Tahbaz, who also hold British citizenship, is also serving a ten-year sentence on espionage charges after arrest with other environmentalists in 2018.
Roxanne Tahbaz, his daughter, held a protest in April at Britain’s foreign office demanding action to free her father.
Foreign governments and human rights organizations have accused Iran of detaining foreigners and dual nationals on trumped up charges to use them for getting concessions from Western countries.
There are allegations that dual nationals are taken prisoner to swap them with Iranian prisoners held abroad, often serving sentences for violating US sanctions or on ‘terrorism’ charges.
In April, families of two German and two Austrian citizens currently jailed in Iran called on the governments in Berlin and Vienna to demand their release as part of nuclear talks with Tehran.
In an interview with Russian daily Izvestia on Wednesday, Levan Dzhagaryan (Jagaryan) claimed that Tehran buys weapons from the Russian Federation only for defensive purposes, denying reports that the Islamic Republic is engaged in destabilizing activities in the region.
The statement contradicted numerous reports and accusations by UN experts, the United States and its regional allies that have insisted Iran arms Yemen's Houthi forces and militant groups in the region.
“After the arms embargo against Iran was removed, there are no more obstacles to the development of Russian-Iranian cooperation in this important and very sensitive area”, he said.
Arms trade sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council expired in October 2020, when the United States failed to garner support among permanent members to extend it.
Djagaryan emphasized that “Iran purchases weapons exclusively for defensive purposes, contrary to the assertions of some countries in the region that Iran is allegedly engaged in subversive activities in the region. I refute it.”
He also hailed the military-technical cooperation with Iran, saying, “At one time [in 2016], we supplied the S-300 anti-missile defense systems.”
Rejecting reports about Iran sending weapons -- including anti-aircraft missile launchers -- for the Russian troops to use in the invasion of Ukraine, he said that “the British media, and not only the British media, is a well-known fake news factory... This is not the first time, and I don't think it will be the last”.
Restoring the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action
He said Russia made every effort to return the deal as it was before the Trump administration “illegally” withdrew from it in May 2018.
“There is a pause in Vienna now, negotiations are not underway yet, because basically the parameters of the upcoming deal have already been agreed, but there are a number of important issues that Iran and the United States need to resolve - these issues are still not easy to resolve”, he said.
Answering a question about the reports by Israeli media that the US government is close to declaring the nuclear deal talks a failure, he said, “The Israeli media is not the most reliable source of information. I treat them with deep skepticism and distrust. They pass off wishful thinking. Let's wait.”
“No one can give any guarantee that the JCPOA will be reactivated today”, the Russian envoy noted.
He made no mention of Russia’s $10 billion agreements with Iran to build additional nuclear reactors and the US decision to wave Ukraine sanctions allowing Moscow to carry out the projects once a nuclear deal is reached.
North-South Transport Corridor
The Russian envoy stressed the importance of the North-South Transport Corridor, which has long been planned to be opened between Iran and Russia, and said, “There are two main directions here: A land route through Iran, Azerbaijan and Russia, as well as through the Caspian Sea, bypassing transit countries”.
“We are actively working on this, our trade operations with Iran are carried out both by water through the Caspian Sea and through the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan,” he said, highlighting the recent trip to Moscow by Iranian Road and Urban Development Rustam Ghasemi.
He added that the closure of several European routes for Russia has made the North-South corridor even a higher priority.
“We have a number of very important projects with Iran, they did not start yesterday,” he said, mentioning “a project for the electrification of the Garmsar-Inche Burun railway from the central provinces of Iran to the Iranian-Turkmen border” and “the construction of the thermal power plant (TPP) Sirik, which is expected to run on gas”.
Trade Ties
He also said Iran and Russia can also cooperate in a wide range of sectors, including oil and gas, transport, communications, IT, science and technology, food and agriculture.
Dzhagaryan went on to say that Iran can offer Russia “traditional types of products, such as vegetables, fruits, dried fruits, nuts". Iranian manufacturers also offer petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, building materials and light industry products as well as clothing and footwear, he added.
Highlighting the quality of Iranian products, considering their prices, the ambassador said, “I am now dressed in a suit of an Iranian manufacturer of Armenian origin, Mr. Hagopian. Very good suits and shirts.”
“As the Russian ambassador to Iran, I will make every effort to ensure that this cooperation develops as massively and quickly as possible for the benefit of our countries”, Dzhagaryan said.
The text published by ISNA is in quotation marks, meaning that someone else provided the wording. It says that Djalali, was found guilty of “espionage for the Zionist regime” and his death sentence has now been confirmed by the Supreme Court.
Ahmadreza Djalali (Jalali) was arrested when he accepted an invitation by a university to visit Iran in 2016. Authorities accused the researcher of espionage – a charge they often use against foreigners and dual nationals that they want to hold as a bargaining chip. Later, Djalali was sentenced to death as Iran tried to ramp up pressure on European countries to free individuals arrested for terrorist activities or on violations of human rights.
The ISNA text also refers to one of these individuals, Hamid Nouri, who was on trial in Swedenuntil this week, saying that his arrest was meant to put pressure on Iran to release Djalali.
Sweden arrested Nouri, now 61, upon his arrival in Sweden at Stockholm Airport in 2019 and in August 2021put him on trial over the mass execution and torture of political prisoners at Gohardasht Prison in Iran in July and August 1988.
Most of victims were linked to the opposition group Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK) but there were also some with links to leftist and secular groups.
Nouri is the first person ever put on trial for the executions carried out on the basis of a fatwa by Iran's then-supreme leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
Swedish prosecutors who produced dozens of witnesses against Nouri, have demanded life imprisonment for him. The last session of his trial ended this week and a verdict will be announced in July. The news about Djalali’s impending execution coincides with the conclusion of Nouri’s trial.
Iran has a 43-year history of taking foreigners hostage to put pressure on European countries and the United States, either for financial reasons or to secure the release of individuals arrested in the West for illegal activities benefitting the Islamic Republic. On many occasions, prisoner swaps have taken place. Djalali’s case seems to be one of those instances when Tehran wants to use him to free Nouri or get a reduced sentence for him in exchange for not executing Djalali.
The ISNA text also alleges without any evidence that Nouri was arrested in Sweden at the behest of Israel to secure the release of “its spy”, Djalali.
The Swedish Iranian detainee has insisted he is innocent and was forced to confess to espionage under torture. His health has deteriorated in long months of solitary confinement, torture and assaults by prison guards.