Issuance of Indictments for Dual Nationals' Cases

The Tehran Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor announced the issuance of indictments for several "important" cases, including those of Nazanin Zaghari, Homa Hoodfar, Siamak Namazi, Nizar Zakka, and seven protesters from the 2009 presidential election. According to ISNA news agency, Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi stated on Tuesday, July 21, that in the past two weeks, indictments have been issued for the cases of Nazanin Zaghari, a British-Iranian citizen; Homa Hoodfar, a Canadian-Iranian citizen; Siamak Namazi, an Iranian-American citizen; and Nizar Zakka, a Lebanese national, and these cases have been sent to court. Mr. Jafari Dolatabadi also mentioned that the cases of seven protesters against the 2009 presidential election have been sent to court as well, without naming them. The Lebanese businessman and vice president of the World Information Technology and Services Alliance (WITSA) has been imprisoned in Iran since September of last year, and media close to the Revolutionary Guards have accused him of being a "spy" and a "trusted intelligence agent of U.S. ambassadors in Lebanon." His family has denied these accusations. Nazanin Zaghari was arrested on April 15 of this year at Imam Khomeini Airport in Tehran. Iranian judiciary officials have accused Ms. Zaghari of participating in "designing and executing media and cyber projects aimed at the soft overthrow of the Islamic Republic," but her family has denied these allegations. Homa Hoodfar, a well-known Canadian-Iranian anthropologist who also holds Irish citizenship, was arrested on June 7 after being summoned to the security prosecutor's office in Tehran. The Tehran Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor stated on July 4 that she had "engaged in feminism and security crimes." Ms. Hoodfar's family issued a statement rejecting the accusations against her, stating that this is the "first time" feminism has been presented as a "crime" in Iran. Siamak Namazi, a former director of strategic planning at Crescent Petroleum, was arrested in October of last year, and his father, Baqer Namazi, a former UNICEF representative in several African countries, was arrested in January of this year. Previously, international human rights organizations and officials from several Western governments have called for the release of these individuals. Tehran had previously released five American citizens, but in recent months, the trend of detaining dual nationals in Iran has intensified.