Kaveh Madani Expresses Hope for the Resolution of Iran's 'True Environmental Friends' Issues

Kaveh Madani, the Deputy of Iran's Department of Environment, expressed hope in a short video on his Instagram page that the issues of 'true friends of the environment' in the country would be resolved, that 'justice would be served,' and 'transparency would be established,' without directly mentioning his arrest on Saturday. He also stated that all his social media accounts except Instagram have been suspended and he has no access to them. Mr. Madani announced that he went to work this morning (Monday) and had previously expressed hope for 'the end of narrow-mindedness, the creation of peace of mind for environmental activists and concerned citizens, the alleviation of concerns for those waiting, and the swift clarification of the facts' before his Twitter account was suspended due to reports of his arrest. Meanwhile, the website of the Department of Environment published a photo of Kaveh Madani as a member of the Iranian delegation during a meeting between Eisa Kalantari, the Vice President and head of this organization, and the German ambassador in Tehran on Monday, February 23. Earlier, Mahmoud Sadeghi, a member of parliament from Tehran, announced on Sunday, February 22, that Eisa Kalantari had confirmed Madani's arrest in a call with him, stating that the reason for his arrest is unclear. So far, Mr. Kalantari has not reacted to Mr. Sadeghi's announcement. Kaveh Madani, a professor at Imperial College London, was appointed as the Deputy of the Department of Environment in September. According to the Environmental Information Base, Mr. Madani was elected as the Vice President of the third United Nations Environment Assembly representing the Asia-Pacific group during the highest environmental assembly of the United Nations held in Nairobi from December 4 to 6 this year, and he became a member of the board of the third United Nations Environment Assembly. ISNA news agency reported about two years ago that the European Union of Earth Sciences recognized Kaveh Madani as one of the four outstanding young scientists in Earth sciences in 2016. Conflicting reports about Kaveh Madani's arrest have emerged following the arrest of several environmental activists and the death of Kavous Seyed Emami, one of those arrested. Meanwhile, according to ILNA news agency, Gholamhossein Esmaili, head of the Tehran judiciary, announced on Sunday that new individuals may be arrested in this case. He stated, 'A group of those who collected information and provided it to foreigners have been identified, and some have been arrested while others may be arrested in the future. The case is in the initial stage, and details cannot be disclosed.' According to Mahmoud Sadeghi, seven environmental activists have been arrested. Earlier reports indicated that, in addition to Kavous Seyed Emami, two of his colleagues at the Wildlife Institute named Houman Jokar, the Asian cheetah project manager, and Morad Tahbaz, an environmental and cultural heritage activist, have also been arrested. Kayhan London newspaper identified another detainee as Niloufar Bayani, the wife of Houman Jokar and the former head of activities and planning and a former advisor to the United Nations Environment Program. In this regard, Ali Shamkhani, the Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, stated on Sunday, 'There is a haze of ambiguity regarding the communications behind the activities of specialized agents of some NGOs in areas such as welfare, women, environment, and water, which is under investigation.' He also announced that he has no information about the details of the environmental activists' arrests. Additionally, according to ILNA news agency, Masoumeh Ebtekar, Deputy for Women and Family Affairs of the Presidency and former head of the Department of Environment, in response to a question about the reasons for the arrest of some environmental activists said, 'I prefer not to comment on this matter at the moment, but I am extremely worried.'