Iran's Vice President: Imprisoned Environmental Activists Will Be Released Soon

Three days after the Tehran prosecutor's strong criticism of government officials' statements regarding imprisoned environmental activists, the Vice President and former head of Iran's Environmental Organization announced that they will be "released soon" and this case will be "closed." Masoumeh Ebtekar, in an interview with the "Iskan News" website published on Saturday, June 5, reminded that according to the Minister of Intelligence's statements, the imprisoned environmental activists "have no problems." The Vice President for Women and Family Affairs emphasized that this case will be "closed soon" and the detainees will be "released." She added: "We regret that at this time, and with many crises facing the government, unnecessary crises are also created for the country, and innocent people are facing problems." Ebtekar's remarks come as the Tehran prosecutor on June 2 severely criticized government officials' statements regarding this case, stating that the President's selected committee also has "no right to comment or intervene" in this case. This statement was a reaction to comments made by Isa Kalantari, head of the Environmental Protection Organization, who stated that there is "no evidence" of espionage against several detained environmental activists, and they should be released. He emphasized that based on reports from a four-member committee appointed by the Iranian President and the Ministry of Intelligence, they are also "not spies." Following the death of Kavous Seyed-Emami and several detainees from the protests in December, the Iranian President appointed a four-member committee to "address and follow up on unpleasant incidents in some detention centers." The legal deputy of the Iranian President, along with the Ministers of Intelligence, Interior, and Justice, are members of this committee. According to several members of parliament, including Mahmoud Sadqi and Mohammad Reza Tabeish, anti-espionage experts from the Ministry of Intelligence have also "explicitly, substantively, and documentarily stated that they found no evidence of espionage" against them. These representatives stated that experts from the Ministry of Intelligence have declared that these activists were "at least 60 kilometers away from locations monitored by military institutions" and their filming equipment could not have captured images from these locations. However, judicial officials have stated that determining whether the actions of the accused constitute espionage "is within the jurisdiction of judicial authorities." Payam Darvishan, the lawyer for Kavous Seyed-Emami's family, stated in an interview with Radio Farda that the status of the case of the detained environmental activists is "completely unclear" and judicial officials are not even accountable regarding the case of Kavous Seyed-Emami's death. According to Mr. Darvishan, the "espionage" device that Iranian television claims belonged to Kavous Seyed-Emami is actually a "fishing hook."