Accusations Against Reza Shahini; 2009 Protests, Collaboration with Voice of America, and Insulting Sacred Values

An 'informed source' regarding the case of Reza (Robin) Shahini, an Iranian-American citizen who has been detained in Gorgan since July 11, 2016, told the International Human Rights Campaign in Iran that with the completion of his interrogations, Mr. Shahini's case was sent to the first branch of the Gorgan Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor's Office on August 14. This informed source stated that Reza (Robin) Shahini's lawyer has not yet been granted permission to review the case. The accusations against Mr. Shahini include 'actions against national security, participation in the 2009 protests, collaboration with the Voice of America television, and insulting sacred values on social media (Facebook).' Reza (Robin) Shahini, residing in San Diego, California, was arrested on July 11 by security forces at his mother's home in Gorgan. Mr. Shahini's girlfriend told Radio Farda that her boyfriend 'traveled to Iran in early June to visit his sick mother,' but 'on July 11, security agents visited his mother's home in Gorgan and, after searching the house and confiscating his personal belongings, including his computer and mobile phone, arrested Reza Shahini.' The Islamic Republic has a long history of detaining dual nationals. Currently, the identities of several detained dual nationals in Iran are known, including Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, an Iranian-British citizen arrested in April, who worked for the Thomson Reuters Foundation (an organization affiliated with Reuters news agency). Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, the Tehran Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor, announced on August 17 that a dual national citizen was arrested in Tehran the previous week 'on charges of espionage for the British intelligence service.' The British Foreign Office warned its citizens, especially Iranian-British citizens, in July of this year that traveling to Iran may put them at risk of arrest. The U.S. State Department also issued a similar warning in February of last year, particularly for dual nationals. In this context, the U.S. is reviewing reports about the detention of one of its citizens in Iran. A Republican senator accused the Obama administration of 'paying ransom' to Iran. The arrest of a dual national on charges of 'having relations with the British intelligence service' has changed the playing field for 'proxy wars'; the war against the people in the streets of Iran. The first paragraph discusses the responsibility of the opposition and the potential radicalization of Iranian society. The last representative of Mossad in Tehran passed away amid the Iranian crisis.