Tehran Prosecutor Raises Multiple Charges Against Detained Environmental Activists

On Tuesday, February 13, the Tehran Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor presented numerous charges against detained environmental activists, claiming that "an American intelligence officer was stationed at the home of Kavous Seyed Emami during his visit to Iran." Kavous Seyed Emami, a professor at Imam Sadiq University and CEO of "Persian Heritage Wildlife," died in security forces' prison two weeks after his arrest on February 8. Iranian judicial authorities declared his death a result of "suicide." His death sparked widespread reactions, with many civil activists and human rights groups calling for an independent investigation and accountability from the Iranian judiciary. Other environmental activists remain in detention. Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, the Tehran Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor, alleged that the detainees were pursuing three missions under the guidance of CIA and Mossad officers, including environmental issues, infiltrating Iran's scientific community, and gathering information from sensitive and vital locations in the country, including missile bases. He claimed that the environmental case suspects participated in the "Manarid" conference with the presence of a Mossad intelligence officer and concluded that "the overall goal of the joint CIA and Mossad project was to create crises in some environmental areas in Iran, and the information collected was transferred to the U.S. through covert agents." The Tehran prosecutor stated without evidence that "two known officers of the American intelligence agency" traveled to Iran and some provinces, with one of their goals being "to establish an institute under the guise of environmental activities." Dolatabadi did not clarify how the Iranian Foreign Ministry issued visas for these officers if their identities were "known." He mentioned that this organization was established about a decade ago in Iran, designed by Americans to achieve the objectives of the CIA and Mossad intelligence services and to collect classified information in defense and missile areas. It seems that the Tehran prosecutor was referring to "Persian Heritage Wildlife," where many detainees, including Kavous Seyed Emami, Houman Jokar, Morad Tahbaz, and Niloufar Bayani, were active and pursued various environmental projects. Another detainee, Kaveh Madani, the deputy head of the Environmental Protection Organization, has had conflicting reports about his release. The Tehran prosecutor further mentioned an "American intelligence officer" who allegedly was in contact with Kavous Seyed Emami and was "stationed at Kavous Seyed Emami's home during his visit to Iran." According to Dolatabadi, "this network was collecting necessary information under the cover of executing scientific and environmental projects." He referred to the installation of cameras "in some strategic areas" as one of the accusations against the detainees, which he claimed was "ostensibly for monitoring environmental matters" but was actually a cover for monitoring the country's missile activities and sending recorded images and information to foreigners. The Tehran prosecutor's claim about the "American intelligence officer stationed at Kavous Seyed Emami's home" has drawn reactions from some political activists, including Mostafa Tajzadeh, a former deputy interior minister in Khatami's government, who tweeted: "Do we believe that a CIA officer is so foolish as to stay at the home of his main contact instead of a hotel during his mission in the country?" The Tehran prosecutor first reported on February 10 that several detainees had been arrested who, according to him, were collecting classified information in strategic areas under the guise of executing scientific and environmental projects. This announcement coincided with a tweet from Kavous Seyed Emami's son, who reported his father's death in security forces' prison on February 19. He wrote that his father was arrested on February 24 and "suddenly my mother, Maryam Momeni, was summoned from the prosecutor's office on Friday, February 19, 1396, and was informed of her husband's death. They said he committed suicide... I still can't believe it, and we don't believe it." The Tehran prosecutor stated on Tuesday that "after Kavous Seyed Emami's arrest and the provision of existing documents and information to him during the investigation process, he requested an opportunity from his interrogator to answer questions, which was accepted; however, after the suspect returned to his detention place, he committed suicide in the restroom after preparations were made." This claim comes amid reports from some parliament members and his lawyer stating that there is no scene of suicide in the footage shown to them. Amnesty International issued a statement urging the Canadian government and the international community to pressure Iranian authorities to conduct "independent investigations" into the circumstances of Kavous Seyed Emami's death "in accordance with international human rights standards" so that "those responsible, along with those in positions of leadership and oversight, must be brought to justice." Reports indicate that Mr. Seyed Emami held Iranian-Canadian citizenship. His body was buried on Tuesday in the village of Imameh. The death of Kavous Seyed Emami is the third case reported as "suicide" in detention following the protests in December. Before him, Sina Ghanbari and Vahid Heydari, two detainees from the December protests, lost their lives in Evin and Arak prisons, which judicial authorities claimed were "suicides."