Isa Kalantari Reiterates the Innocence of Imprisoned Environmental Activists; They Were Not Spies

The head of the Environmental Protection Organization during Hassan Rouhani's presidency has once again stated regarding the detained environmental activists that all those arrested as environmental spies were "innocent." Isa Kalantari emphasized that some individuals and factions only think about "holding power" and do not care about the future of the country. Referring to the widespread arrests of environmental activists during his management in the Environmental Protection Organization, Kalantari mentioned that the issue of Morad Tahbaz was resolved during the prisoner exchange with the United States, but the remaining seven individuals were clearly innocent from the beginning. He stressed that the Minister of Intelligence during Rouhani's era explicitly stated and reported that these individuals were not spies; however, some individuals and groups arrested them on espionage charges. According to Kalantari, "These individuals have been in prison for six years, and if we consider the seven-year sentence for these individuals, they should have been released after one-third or two-thirds of their sentence." Hooman Jokar, Taher Ghaderian, Morad Tahbaz, Sepideh Kashani, Niloufar Bayani, Amir Hossein Khalighi, Sam Rajabi, and Abdolreza Kouhpayeh are the environmental activists mentioned by Isa Kalantari in Iran. Kavous Seyed-Emami was also among those arrested, whose death in prison was reported two weeks after his arrest in 2017. Iranian officials claimed the cause of his death was "suicide," but Seyed-Emami's family rejected this claim. These individuals ultimately faced heavy sentences after more than two years of detention, and Gholamhossein Esmaili, the then-spokesman for the judiciary, announced on Tuesday, February 18, that Morad Tahbaz and Niloufar Bayani, among the defendants in this case, were sentenced to 10 years in prison and ordered to return received funds for "collaborating with the U.S." According to this judiciary official, Hooman Jokar and Taher Ghaderian were also sentenced to eight years in prison on similar charges. Accordingly, Sam Rajabi, Sepideh Kashani, and Amir Hossein Khalighi Hamidi, other imprisoned environmental activists in Iran, were each sentenced to six years in prison on espionage charges. For Abdolreza Kouhpayeh, another detained environmental activist, a four-year prison sentence was issued for "gathering and colluding with the intent to act against security." At that time, the United Nations Environment Program expressed deep concern over the heavy prison sentences issued for several environmental activists accused of "espionage" in Iran. The spokesperson for the U.S. State Department also condemned the initial verdict of the Revolutionary Court of the Islamic Republic for Iranian environmental activists, which ranged from six to ten years in prison. In another part of this interview, the head of the Environmental Protection Organization during Hassan Rouhani's government described Kaveh Madani as "one of the specialized and patriotic Iranian forces" and stated that he "came to Iran solely to serve," but "hardline groups that could not tolerate the use of these forces" obstructed the presence of "elite forces in the country." Last August, Kaveh Madani, a renowned Iranian water scientist, was appointed as the head of the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment, and Health. The university's statement indicated that Professor Kaveh Madani, who has worked as a scientist, educator, and activist, would assume his new position on February 1, 2023. Madani came to the United Nations University from Yale University in 2021 and worked as the head of the "Nexus" research program at the United Nations University Institute based in Dresden. He also serves as a research professor at the City College of New York's Earth System Remote Sensing Institute. Previously, Madani was a faculty member at the Environmental Policy Center at Imperial College London. Kaveh Madani, a research professor at City College of New York, in his first interview after being appointed as the head of the "Institute for Water, Environment, and Health" at the United Nations University, told Voice of America that "water bankruptcy" has always been a global issue, but the pressure resulting from it varies for countries and different segments of society. Government agents attacked the "Chia Green Association" meeting; at least 25 environmental activists were arrested. Reuters: Iran and the U.S. are on the verge of a prisoner exchange mediated by Qatar. Water crisis in Iran; Minister of Industry: Isfahan will connect to the Sea of Oman. Dozens of protesters against the drying of Lake Urmia were arrested in several cities. Hengaw: The condition of Farzad Javid, an environmental activist, remains unclear after 11 days of detention.