Reza Pahlavi's Letter to the Italian Prime Minister to Prevent the Extradition of a Political Refugee

Prince Reza Pahlavi, son of the last Shah of Iran, officially urged Matteo Renzi, the Prime Minister of Italy, in a letter to prevent the extradition of Mehdi Khosravi (Yashar Parsa) to Iran. Mehdi Khosravi, known by the alias Yashar Parsa, has been active for years under the pseudonym 'Ghomaniyan' on social media and holds political asylum in the UK. However, during a trip to Italy on Saturday, August 7, he was arrested by the police. The National Council of Iran (a political organization led by Reza Pahlavi, of which Khosravi is the executive secretary) announced that the Italian police informed this political refugee that he was arrested based on a court order from Iran on charges of financial embezzlement and was to be extradited to the Islamic Republic. Reza Pirzadeh, a member of the political office of the National Council of Iran, said on Wednesday, August 10, to Radio Farda that the Italian Foreign Ministry, after receiving Prince Reza Pahlavi's letter, unofficially informed the organization that it would prevent Khosravi's extradition to Iran, being aware of his human rights activities and refugee status. Pirzadeh also stated, 'The main issue is that the process of Khosravi's release from Italian prison may take up to eight months, meaning that a political refugee and human rights activist is being detained in Europe based on a complaint from a terrorist regime and may be imprisoned for eight months.' According to this member of the political office, the arrest warrant issued by the Tehran prosecutor's office for Khosravi has been sent to several other European countries, but only Italy has acted on it. In Prince Reza Pahlavi's letter to the Italian Prime Minister, it was also warned that 'any attempt to return Mehdi Khosravi to Iran could result in his imprisonment, torture, and potential execution.' Mehdi Khosravi (Yashar Parsa) is a long-time activist on blogs and social media, having published numerous articles defending human rights and democracy in Iran.