IRGC: Nizar Zaka's Mission Was 'Pursuing Targeted Deviations in Women's Affairs'

On Wednesday, March 4, the deputy of the IRGC's intelligence announced that Nizar Zaka, a Lebanese citizen sentenced to ten years in prison in Iran, confessed after his arrest that his special mission was to 'pursue targeted deviations in women's and family affairs' in the country. According to Mehr News Agency, General Siari also stated that Zaka was a 'spy' and had been 'connected' to former U.S. President Barack Obama through an intermediary. Zaka, who holds permanent residency in the U.S., lived in Washington before his arrest. He is an expert in information and communication technology and worked for a nonprofit technology organization in Washington. This Lebanese citizen was arrested by security forces in Tehran during his fifth trip to Iran on September 18, 2015, and has since been held in Evin Prison. Iranian media reported on November 12 of last year about Zaka's arrest. In this context, news about the disappearance of this Lebanese citizen after attending a technology conference in Tehran in September 2015 was published, and it was said that he had gone to Tehran at the invitation of Shahindokht Molaverdi, the Iranian Vice President for Women and Family Affairs, to participate in the 'Second International Exhibition and Conference on Women's Role in Sustainable Development' on the topic of 'Entrepreneurship and Job Creation.' According to Mehr, the IRGC's intelligence deputy stated that Zaka 'confessed' to spending eight million euros to attract 15 NGOs. This military official's reference to the defendant's confession comes amid repeated criticisms from human rights organizations regarding what they call confession extraction methods in prisons by the Islamic Republic's security apparatus. In response, Iranian officials have denied these criticisms, stating that political and ideological prisoners' confessions are voluntary and made without any pressure. On September 30, the Associated Press reported that Zaka had been sentenced to ten years in prison and fined four million two hundred thousand dollars (nearly 15 billion tomans). The news agency quoted Jason Poblete, Zaka's American lawyer, stating that the 60-page ruling was issued in a closed court presided over by Judge Abolqasem Salavati at the Tehran Revolutionary Court. The prison sentence and fine were issued for this Lebanese citizen while Amnesty International criticized the trial process on September 26, stating that he had only limited access to his defense attorney before the trial and that his trial lasted only two sessions. According to Amnesty International, Zaka was accused of 'espionage and collaborating with a hostile government,' but his family has denied these allegations. Before the IRGC intelligence deputy's remarks, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on November 9 linked Zaka's arrest to issues between Tehran and Washington. Zarif stated that Zaka's arrest 'is a problem between illegal actions that, from the perspective of Iran's judiciary, were committed by an individual.' In recent months, several dual nationals have been arrested and imprisoned in Iran, including Nazanin Zaghari, a British-Iranian citizen, Homa Hoodfar, a Canadian-Iranian citizen, Reza Shahini, an Iranian-American citizen, and Siamak Namazi and his father Baqer Namazi, Iranian-American citizens. Human rights organizations, along with the U.S. and the U.K., have repeatedly called for the release of these individuals. The dismantling of a 'media network with 600 members' was also mentioned by the IRGC intelligence deputy during a speech in Kermanshah, stating: 'In the recent arrest case discussed, 600 media personnel were networked with a mastermind in London, which has been dismantled.' He did not provide further details about this network, its members, and its goals, nor about the significant number of individuals involved. In recent years, several journalists and citizen journalists have been arrested and imprisoned in Iran. According to Reporters Without Borders, the arrest and suppression of journalists in Iran continue, and in recent months, at least five journalists have also been sentenced to flogging. This organization states that Iran currently has 30 imprisoned journalists and bloggers, making it one of the five largest prisons in the world for media activists.