Four Years in Prison; Mehran Raouf Still Denied Leave

Mehran Raouf, a political prisoner, is spending the fourth year of his sentence in Evin Prison under conditions where he has been deprived of the possibility of leave. According to the Harana news agency, the news organ of human rights activists in Iran, this summer, Mr. Raouf's request for conditional release at the age of 66 was denied. This comes as the dual-national prisoner has spent more than a third of his sentence, including time in detention, and remains deprived of this possibility. In April of this year, Mr. Raouf protested in a letter regarding the rights that have been taken from him due to his dual nationality and political imprisonment. Mr. Raouf was arrested in October 2020 by the intelligence forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and transferred to the detention center known as Ward 2-A of Evin Prison. He was eventually sentenced to 10 years and 8 months in prison by Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Iman Afshari, for charges of participating in the administration of an illegal group and propaganda against the regime. This sentence was reduced to 7 years and 6 months in the appeals court. In recent years, several dual nationals have been arrested by the Iranian government and sentenced to prison on security charges. Other dual citizens are also imprisoned in Iran, including Ahmadreza Jalali and Jamshid Sharmahd. Many political experts believe that the Islamic Republic of Iran uses baseless accusations to detain foreign citizens, especially dual nationals, and uses them as political bargaining chips, effectively taking these citizens hostage. In one of the latest cases, after the release of six billion dollars of Iran's blocked funds in South Korea and its transfer to Qatar, the Islamic Republic released five Iranian-American dual nationals. Among those released are 51-year-old Siamak Namazi and 59-year-old Emad Sharqi, both businessmen, and 67-year-old Morad Tahbaz, an environmental activist. The bill to support Iranians abroad continues; the imprisonment of dual nationals persists. A representative of Mehran Raouf told Voice of America that he should have been released alongside other British citizens in Iran. The Islamic Republic summoned its ambassador; the German Foreign Ministry condemned the return of Nahid Taghavi to prison. The head of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany stated that the German government should make more efforts for the release of 'Sharmahd.' In a conversation with her father after two years, Ghazaleh Sharmahd stated that her father was unaware of the Mahsa revolution and his sentence. Sheila Jackson Lee, a Democratic representative, stated that all American hostages must be released from Iran.