Kalantari: There is no evidence of espionage by environmental activists

The head of Iran's Environmental Protection Organization, Isa Kalantari, stated that since there is 'no evidence' of espionage against several detained environmental activists, they should be released. On Tuesday, May 22, he referred to the findings of a four-member committee formed by the order of Hassan Rouhani to investigate the fate of these detainees, which includes the Minister of Justice, Minister of Interior, Deputy for Legal Affairs, and Minister of Intelligence. He mentioned that this committee concluded that 'the detained activists should be released because there is no document to prove the accusations made against these individuals.' He added that 'it has been determined that these individuals were detained without committing any wrongdoing.' This government official emphasized that the Ministry of Intelligence has concluded that 'there is no evidence to support the claim that these individuals are spies.' Kalantari's statement, made during the World Biodiversity Day conference, has been described by some media in Iran as a 'late confession.' Previously, Kalantari had stated in a press conference that 'I cannot really say whether they are guilty or not.' His remarks refer to the detention of nearly 55 environmental activists in various cities across Iran, which began with the arrest of seven activists in Bahman and Esfand of last year. Among those detained in Bahman and Esfand of 1396 (2018) are Houman Jokar, Amir Hossein Khaleghi, Sam Rajabi, Taher Ghadirian, Niloufar Bayani, Sepideh Kashani, Morad Tahbaz, Kavous Seyed-Emami, Hassan Ragh, Aref Zare, Mohammad Zare, and Abdolreza Koohpayeh. Some of the detainees from last winter were officials and colleagues of the 'Persian Wildlife' institute, while others collaborated with the 'Nature Guardians of Lavardin' institute. Two weeks after the arrest of Kavous Seyed-Emami, a dual Iranian-Canadian citizen, Imam Sadiq University professor, and director of the Persian Wildlife Heritage Institute, his family was informed that he had 'committed suicide' in prison. In Esfand of last year, when Maryam Momeni, the wife of Kavous Seyed-Emami, and their two sons attempted to leave Iran for Canada, she was prevented from exiting at the airport. Although the Ministry of Intelligence of Iran has stated that it does not consider these activists to be 'spies,' the judiciary insists on this matter and, without mentioning the name of Kaveh Madani, the former deputy of the Environmental Organization of Iran who resigned while on a mission abroad, associates his departure from the country with what they call the 'confessions' of these detainees. Meanwhile, Mahmoud Alavi, Iran's Minister of Intelligence, has rejected security and espionage charges against Kaveh Madani and stated that the Ministry of Intelligence is the authority for determining espionage issues. The espionage charges against these activists, including Kavous Seyed-Emami, have emerged while Seyed-Emami's family lawyer recently announced that the 'espionage device' claimed by Iranian television to belong to Kavous Seyed-Emami was actually a 'fishing hook.' Payam Darafshan added that in a video aired on the 20:30 program of Iranian television against Seyed-Emami, an 'antenna' was shown, and it was claimed that Seyed-Emami was sending 'secret information' to foreigners through it. He further stated that this alleged antenna was 'merely a fishing rod on which the Seyed-Emami family installed a radio during their outings outside the city to listen to the radio.' After the arrest of these environmental activists, the Islamic Republic's state television claimed that Mr. Seyed-Emami and his colleagues used cameras for photographing cheetahs to take pictures of IRGC missile sites and provided information about these sites to foreign intelligence agencies. However, Isa Kalantari did not find this accusation valid, stating that these cameras are capable of capturing images of only a limited environment around them. The arrests of environmental activists and the suspicious death of Mr. Seyed-Emami in custody have drawn criticism both inside and outside Iran. Among those criticisms, UN officials have called on Iran to respect environmental activists.