European Union: The Islamic Republic Must End the Detention of Foreign Citizens

Kaja Kallas, the EU's foreign policy chief, criticized the "political use of the detention of European citizens" by the Islamic Republic during a press conference on Monday, February 8. She also condemned the "ongoing threats from [the Iranian] government against international peace." According to the official EU website, Ms. Kallas noted that this issue was one of the key topics in her discussions with the foreign ministers of EU member states in Brussels. The senior EU official emphasized that "EU member states are calling for an end to Iran's actions of detaining foreign citizens for use as political leverage." Kaja Kallas added, "In the near future, deeper discussions about Iran and the EU's policy towards this country will take place." In recent years, the Islamic Republic has detained dozens of dual nationals and foreign citizens, mainly on charges of espionage and security. In one of the latest cases, a Swiss citizen imprisoned in the Islamic Republic on espionage charges died on January 20. In response to this incident, the Swiss government requested detailed information from the Islamic Republic of Iran regarding the reasons for the detention and the circumstances leading to the death of one of its citizens in the Islamic Republic's prison. The Swiss Foreign Ministry stated on January 21 in a statement sent to the Persian section of Voice of America that Iranian government officials informed the embassy in Tehran on December 20 that a 64-year-old Swiss man had been detained on suspicion of espionage. In another report, the mother of Olivier Grondot, a French citizen detained in Iran in 2022, claimed that her son is innocent and accused the Islamic Republic of using her child as a tool for "political extortion" from France. She stated that her son has been imprisoned in Iran for over two years and added that Iranian officials are "aware" of Olivier's innocence but continue to keep this French tourist imprisoned in Evin Prison. In addition to Olivier Grondot, Cecile Kohler, a French trade union activist, and her husband Jacques Paris are also imprisoned in Iran. Furthermore, Cecilia Sala, an Italian journalist who was in Iran on a journalist visa, was detained by the Islamic Republic three days after the arrest of Mohammad Abedini Najafabadi at Milan Airport on December 25. Following widespread reactions, the imprisoned Italian journalist was released on January 18 and returned to Italy. Subsequently, news emerged that Mohammad Abedini Najafabadi had been released from prison in Italy, which confirms previous speculations about the Islamic Republic's hostage-taking for a deal involving Ms. Sala and Abedini, despite the Iranian officials' denials. The United States and European countries accuse the Islamic Republic of engaging in "hostage-taking" by detaining dual nationals and foreign citizens to exchange them for their prisoners in other countries. In 2015, coinciding with the nuclear agreement, the Islamic Republic exchanged five foreign and dual nationals for Iranian prisoners in the United States. Previously, senior French, British, and German diplomats met with their Iranian counterparts in Geneva on January 24 to discuss bilateral issues and the future of nuclear negotiations. Diplomatic sources indicate that around 20 European citizens from 10 countries have been detained and effectively taken hostage by the Islamic Republic.