U.S. Expresses Concern Over Vahid Afkari's Situation on the Thousandth Day of Solitary Confinement

The Deputy Spokesperson of the U.S. State Department expressed concern over Vahid Afkari, 'brother of Navid Afkari', remaining in solitary confinement in the Islamic Republic's prison and urged Iranian officials to release him and other imprisoned youths as soon as possible. Vedant Patel stated at the beginning of his press conference on Tuesday, June 6, 'Vahid Afkari has now spent a thousand days in solitary confinement, and like his brother Navid Afkari, the Iranian wrestler who was executed by the Islamic Republic in 2020, he has been unjustly detained and subjected to torture and false confessions, and after an unfair trial, he was sentenced to 33 years and 9 months in prison and 74 lashes, a ruling far from justice.' He described the treatment of Vahid Afkari as an example of the behavior of Islamic Republic officials who 'have no interest in justice and seek to instill fear in ordinary people and protesters.' The U.S. Deputy Spokesperson further emphasized, 'Once again, we call on Iranian officials to free Vahid and all those Iranians, including many young people who are imprisoned for demanding their human rights, including the right to free speech.' In response to a question from a VOA Persian reporter about U.S. actions regarding the Islamic Republic's treatment of political prisoners, Patel said, 'U.S. sanctions against the Islamic Republic have been effective, and we have more tools at our disposal to hold the Islamic Republic accountable for its gross human rights violations and its destructive and destabilizing activities.'