Two British Nationals Arrested in Iran on Security Charges, State Media Reports
Two British nationals have been detained in Iran, with reports confirming that they were granted access to the UK ambassador, Hugo Shorter. Iranian state media released photographs allegedly showing Shorter meeting the two detainees at the general and revolutionary prosecutor’s office in Kerman province, located approximately 500 miles southeast of Tehran.
The published image depicts the meeting, which took place on Wednesday, attended by Kerman prosecutor Mehdi Bakhshi and Rahman Jalal, the province’s deputy governor for security and law enforcement. However, the faces of the two detained individuals were intentionally blurred, concealing their identities. Notably, British-Iranian dual national Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe had previously been transferred to Kerman following her initial arrest.
The UK Foreign Office has not issued an official statement regarding the incident. The arrests coincide with the scheduled arrival of Iran’s newly appointed ambassador to the UK, Seyyed Ali Mousavi. Meanwhile, Iran has been pressuring the UK and other European nations to distance themselves from the economic sanctions reinstated by the United States, which could impact potential discussions on Iran’s nuclear program.
The detentions also follow a series of diplomatic exchanges involving Iran, Italy, and Germany. Recently, Iran secured the release of Iranian businessman Mohammad Abedini, who had been apprehended in Milan at the request of the United States for allegedly supplying components used in a drone attack on US troops in Jordan. Three days after his arrest, Iranian authorities detained Italian journalist Cecilia Sala in Tehran while she was in the country on a journalist visa. After Sala spent three weeks in Iranian custody, the Italian government led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni facilitated Abedini’s release, which subsequently led to Sala’s freedom.
In a separate development, German authorities have confirmed the transfer of the remains of Jamshid Sharmahd, an Iranian-German political activist executed in an Iranian prison in November last year. Following intensive diplomatic negotiations, Germany managed to retrieve Sharmahd’s body and conduct an autopsy. Reports suggest that efforts to recover his remains were one reason behind Germany’s initial hesitation to invite Iranian opposition figure Reza Pahlavi to the Munich Security Conference, though the invitation was ultimately reinstated.
The security situation in Iran remains tense, with heightened law enforcement presence outside the University of Tehran. This comes in response to calls for a protest demanding the release of Mir Hossein Mousavi, a former 2009 presidential candidate, and his wife, Zahra Rahnavard, who have been under house arrest for 14 years.
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