Wife of Iranian-Austrian Citizen Breaks Silence After Ten Months

On October 19, 2016, the Tehran prosecutor announced that five individuals were sentenced to ten years in prison for collaborating with the United States. Two of these individuals, Siamak and Mohammad Baqer Namazi, are Iranian-American citizens, while the other three—Kamran Ghaderi, Alireza Omidvar, and Farhad Abdollah Saleh—had not previously been mentioned by the media or Iranian officials. Now, the wife of one of these individuals, 52-year-old Iranian-Austrian citizen Kamran Ghaderi, has broken her silence. Kamran Ghaderi is an IT professional and the manager of a company named Avank in Vienna, Austria. Harika Ghaderi, from Vienna, answered Radio Farda's questions about her husband, his arrest, and his field of work. Your husband, Kamran Ghaderi, was arrested ten months ago in January. Why did you decide to speak out about him now? Our lawyer in Iran advised us that it was better not to make this public. He always gave us positive signs, saying everything would be fine and that Kamran was not guilty and would be released soon. We believed him and remained silent. He kept saying he would have good news for us the following week, but nothing happened until ten months passed, and yesterday a friend told me that Kamran's name was published with the announcement of the sentence, and I decided to speak out about it. Were you in Iran at the time of your husband's arrest? No, I was here in Austria with my family. Kamran had gone to Iran for a week. He is active in commerce and traveled to Iran frequently. What exactly was his work? Could you explain his field of activity a bit more? Yes, he is an IT manager and works in sales and support for IT projects. All the work he did was legal, and he did not commit any crimes. His character is such that he does not lie; he is a simple person and a good businessman. Was his work ever related to the Iranian or Austrian government? No. I think it was in October 2015 that a delegation from Austria went to Iran. The trip of the former Austrian president included 200 people, most of whom were businessmen and economic activists. My husband was also part of this delegation. If you look at the reports from that trip, there are photos of my husband signing contracts between Iran and Austria. I think they saw that photo and had some thoughts. This is a common practice in Austria. My husband has been a successful activist in this field, and it is very natural for him to be part of this delegation. This does not mean he has connections with a government or worked with Heinz Fischer (the former president of Austria). However, some issues are interpreted differently. Your husband, Kamran Ghaderi, has been accused of collaborating with the United States and has been sentenced to ten years in prison. Has he had any connections to the U.S. or traveled there? No. He has never had any connections. I have known my husband for 15 years. He is not that kind of person. I cannot believe how such accusations are made against him. Have you seen your husband in prison during this time? At the end of February (the 27th or 28th), they called my husband's brother from the prison and said that Kamran's wife and child could see him. Until that time, no one had seen him and did not know where he was or in what condition. As soon as I heard this, I immediately bought a ticket and went to Iran. I called and was given an appointment. I went to the address they gave me, and there were two people from the Ministry of Intelligence and a translator who translated from German to Persian. They then questioned me for three and a half hours and then told me that I was not allowed to see my husband and could return to Austria. During these ten months, has anyone from Mr. Ghaderi's family been able to see him? Yes, he contacted his mother in the spring on April 5 and said that since then he could see his mother every other Thursday. And since then, he has been seeing her. What do they say about his condition? He has lost weight, and his mother says he communicates normally. His mother is also very old, and I think if there is anything, she probably does not realize it. During the visit, there is a glass barrier between them. Therefore, the communication is not entirely direct, and I do not know if he understands the whole situation or not. Whenever he goes to visit in prison, he does not feel well afterward, and his blood pressure rises, and his health condition is not good at all. Now that the sentence has been issued, do you hope that negotiations will take place for your husband's release? We decided to make this issue public, and I want to show everyone that my husband is really just an active businessman. If he had committed a crime, I would accept such a sentence. But he has not done anything illegal. He has never written anything against anyone and has never been a political activist. He only worked with Iran, and that is not illegal; everyone does that. He studied at the Vienna University of Technology and received his doctorate from the same university with the highest marks. He is very good at his work; he understands it, and that is why he has been successful. He is interested in connecting with people, and that is why he has many friends in Iran and Austria. I really do not understand how someone like Kamran can be convicted of such accusations. Your husband's sentence, along with several others, including two Iranian-American citizens, is ten years in prison. Does your husband know any of these individuals? I read the names of these individuals on the internet, and I do not know any of them and cannot establish any connection between them. I usually work in Kamran's office, so I know almost the people he works with. But I do not know these individuals, and I saw their names for the first time yesterday. You said your husband traveled to Iran. Was this a new development, or had he been in contact with Iran during previous governments or the nuclear agreement? No, this was not new. He used to go to Iran all the time. In the early years that I knew him, he worked with a German company and was part of the Middle East division of that company, and he was in contact with countries in this region. Since then, he has known all these IT companies in Iran and then established his own company and worked with Iran. The trip with the Austrian delegation was the first and last time that happened. He did not work with the Austrian government. There were other people who were also part of the Austrian delegation that went to Iran and do not work with the government either. Mrs. Ghaderi, you have three children. Do they know anything about their father's situation? Do they ask about it? Yes, from the very first day. The story was that the day after Kamran went to Iran, my mother-in-law called me and asked about everyone, including Kamran. I told her he had gone to Iran. In short, I became very worried. I went to the airport to get information. He had gone to Tehran via Istanbul, and I was constantly worried about his health because his father had had three heart attacks, and I thought something might have happened to Kamran too. I was just worried and crying. But after much inquiry, I found out that he had been arrested by the Ministry. As a result, the children understood from the first day by seeing my condition. I keep telling them that there has been a misunderstanding and that they will eventually understand that he is not guilty and will be released. I still believe this and know that my husband is 100% innocent.