The United States Condemns the Arrest of Reza Khandan and Calls for His Release

The Deputy Special Representative of the United States for Iran condemned the arrest of Reza Khandan, a civil activist and husband of Nasrin Sotoudeh, and emphasized the need for his immediate release. Abram Paley wrote in a message on the social media platform 'X': 'We strongly condemn the arrest of Reza Khandan by the Iranian regime. We demand his immediate release and that of all political prisoners in Iran. The regime must stop targeting human rights defenders and be held accountable for its actions.' Reza Khandan, a political activist, was arrested by law enforcement at his home on Friday, December 23, to enforce a ruling related to a case from 2018. Nasrin Sotoudeh, a prominent Iranian lawyer and Mr. Khandan's wife, told Voice of America that he was arrested by officers from the 138th precinct of Jannatabad on Friday afternoon. According to Ms. Sotoudeh, the officers initially told her husband that he needed to come to the precinct to explain a traffic violation, but upon his insistence, they were forced to show him an arrest warrant related to a ruling from six years ago. Ms. Sotoudeh further added that this ruling pertains to a joint case formed against Reza Khandan and Farhad Mishtami. According to Ms. Sotoudeh, they were sentenced to six years in prison, five of which were enforceable. She continued that Reza Khandan was released after serving four months in prison. Farhad Mishtami was also released after about four and a half years in prison following the Mahsa Amini movement in February 2023. Ms. Sotoudeh stated that given the existence of some documents, the case against Reza Khandan and Farhad Mishtami had been closed, and they were pardoned without filing a request, but now this case has been reopened and an arrest warrant has been issued. Nasrin Sotoudeh discusses the details of Reza Khandan's arrest with Voice of America. There is an international call for 'immediate action' regarding Reza Khandan and Nasrin Sotoudeh. The arrest of Reza Khandan for a closed case; Nasrin Sotoudeh: It is illegal. Hundreds of civil and labor activists have called for the immediate cancellation of the death sentence of Pakhshan Aziz. The PEN America Association condemned the arrest of Reza Khandan.