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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Iran says detained American not held on security charges, releases Frenchwoman

2019-02-25

[IsraelTimes] Michael White, 46, was locked away Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! last July after traveling to Iran to visit a woman he met online. Iran says an American detained last July is not being held on security-related charges. Michael White, 46, was arrested after traveling to Iran to visit a woman he met online. His family says he was arbitrarily detained. Iranian officials say he was detained in connection with a private complaint. Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Panahiazar told the semi-official ISNA news agency Saturday that "there is no security or espionage issue on the table." White is the first American to be detained in Iran since US President Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... took office. He worked as a cook in the US Navy and left the service about a decade ago. Iran has detained a number of dual citizens from Western countries on security charges, using them as leverage in negotiations. Iranian-American Siamak Namazi and his 82-year-old father Baquer are both serving 10-year sentences on espionage charges. Iranian-American art dealer Karan Vafadari and his Iranian wife, Afarin Neyssari, received 27-year and 16-year prison sentences, respectively. Chinese-American graduate student Xiyue Wang was sentenced to 10 years in prison for allegedly "infiltrating" the country while doing doctoral research on Iran’s Qajar dynasty. Iranian-American Robin Shahini was released on bail in 2017 after staging a hunger strike while serving an 18-year prison sentence for "collaboration with a hostile government." Shahini is believed to still be in Iran. Also in an Iranian prison is Nizar Zakka, a US permanent resident from Leb who advocated for internet freedom and has done work for the US government. He was sentenced to 10 years on espionage-related charges. Former FBI agent Robert Levinson, who vanished in Iran in 2007 while on an unauthorized CIA mission, remains missing as well. Iran says that Levinson is not in the country and that it has no further information about him, but his family holds Tehran responsible for his disappearance. Iran releases French woman detained for nearly 4 months No worries — they’ve got plenty more hostages in storage against future need. It’s a tradition. [IsraelTimes] Iran’s official IRNA news agency is saying that the country has released a French businesswoman detained for nearly four months. The report quotes the front man for the Iranian foreign ministry, Bahram Ghasemi, as saying Iran has released Nelly Erin-Cambervelle, a 59-year-old businesswoman from Martinique, who was in jail for entering the country illegally. Ghasemi says the French national was released "in recent days," according to the report, which did not elaborate. Last week, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said La Belle France was in touch with Iran to improve conditions for Erin-Cambervelle, who was tossed in the clink I ain't sayin' nuttin' widdout me mout'piece! in October on the Iranian Persian Gulf island of Kish. La Belle France co-signed the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and is working to keep it alive despite the US withdrawal in 2018.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Two Americans serving 10 years in Iran lose appeal — lawyer

2017-08-29

[IsraelTimes] As health deteriorates, Baquer and Siamak Namazi remain in Evin jail, where they have been ’interrogated relentlessly, beaten, and tased’. Unexpectedly. The Namazi family fled after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The younger Namazi later traveled back several times and wrote articles calling for improved ties between Iran and the US, urging Iranian-Americans to act as a bridge between the rival governments. Those efforts raised suspicions among hard-liners in Iran. In May 2015, a hard-line Iranian website called Fardanews accused him of being part of a Western effort to infiltrate Iran. Siamak Namazi was tossed in the clink Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! in October 2015. His father, a former UNICEF representative who served as governor of Iran’s oil-rich Khuzestan province under the US-backed shah, was arrested in February 2016, apparently drawn to Iran over fears about his incarcerated son. Iran does not recognize dual nationalities, meaning those detained cannot receive consular assistance. In most cases, dual nationals face secret charges in closed-door hearings in Iran’s Revolutionary Court, which handles cases involving alleged attempts to overthrow the government. In October, authorities said the Namazis had been sentenced to 10 years in prison for "cooperating with the hostile American government." The Namazis are among a host of dual nationals and those with ties to the West held in the country after the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. Others include Chinese-American graduate student Xiyue Wang, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison in Iran for allegedly "infiltrating" the country, while doing doctoral research on Iran’s Qajar dynasty. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian woman, was sentenced to five years in prison on allegations of planning the "soft toppling" of Iran’s government, while traveling with her young daughter. Iranian-American Robin Shahini was released on bail last year after staging a weeks-long hunger strike, while serving an 18-year prison sentence for "collaboration with a hostile government." Shahini is believed to still be in Iran. Former FBI agent Robert Levinson, who vanished in Iran in 2007 while on an unauthorized CIA mission, remains unaccounted for. Also in an Iranian prison is Nizar Zakka, a US permanent resident from Leb who advocates for internet freedom and has done work for the US government. He was sentenced to 10 years last year, on espionage-related charges. In the wake of the 2015 atomic accord, Iran freed detained Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian and three other Iranian-Americans in exchange for pardons or charges being dropped against seven Iranians. That deal also saw the US make a $400 million cash delivery to Iran. Analysts and family members of those detained in Iran have suggested Iran wants to negotiate another, similar deal with the West. "The signal has been sent very, very clearly that this is what they want to do," Genser said.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Iranian-American detained in Iran released on bail

2017-04-03

It's not the multiple millions of palleted currencies Iran got out of President Obama, but it is a start. Islamist states don't run on love and goodwill, donchaknow. [Ynet] An Iranian-American detained in Iran since last summer has been released on bail of approximately $60,000, the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported Sunday. Robin Reza Shahini was placed in durance vile Into the paddy wagon wit' yez! by the Revolutionary Guards while visiting family in the northeastern city of Gorgan last July and subsequently sentenced to 18 years imprisonment on charges of threatening national security, according to HRANA. Shahini went on a hunger strike for a month recently and his health situation had been deteriorating, the HRANA report said. Two other Iranian-Americans are still being held in the Islamic Theocratic Republic. Update at 3:30 p.m EDT: Robin Shahini is a 46-year old who had been accepted in a graduate program in homeland security at San Diego State University last year following a history of posting criticisms of the Iranian mullahcracy when he went home to visit his mother, who is reportedly suffering from Alzheimers. The inevitable followed.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Iran indicts ex-nuke negotiator likely on suspicion of espionage

2017-03-06

[IsraelTimes] Suspect, unnamed by authorities, believed to be dual Iranian-Canadian national who worked on parallel talks team, previously detained for spying. D'you think Pretty Boy Trudeau will cough up multiple pallets of various cash currencies to ransom his citizen, dear Reader? Iran’s judiciary has indicted a member of the country’s team that negotiated the nuclear deal with world powers, a front man said Sunday, likely an Iranian-Canadian national previously detained by authorities on suspicion of espionage. An Iranian-American also faces charges after allegedly taking $3.1 million from people after promising to help them emigrate to foreign countries, judiciary front man Gholamhosein Mohseni Ejehi said, according to reports by Iran’s official IRNA news agency. Do you think President Trump will palletize cash for this one? In the case involving the nuclear team member, Ejehi said it would be up to a court to decide whether to try the individual charged. Ejehi did not directly name the team member who had been indicted, nor did he explain what charges the indictment carried. However, alcohol has never solved anybody's problems. But then, neither has milk... Ejehi did say the person involved was a dual national with the initials D.E. That suggests the person indicted likely is Abdolrasoul Dorri Esfahani, a dual Iranian-Canadian national. In August, hard-line news outlets said authorities detained Esfahani, who reportedly worked as a member of a parallel team focusing on lifting economic sanctions as part of the deal. He later was granted bail, which is rare in Iran for those accused of having committed a serious crime. After the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Esfahani reportedly served as a member of the Iranian team working at the Hague on disputes between Iran and the United States over pre-revolution purchases of military equipment from the US by Iran. He is a member of the Ontario Institute of Chartered Accountants in Canada. He also has served as an adviser to the head of Iran’s Central Bank. It doesn't sound like he has much regard for his other citizenship... The News Agency that Dare Not be Named could not reach Esfahani for comment. Canadian officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The nuclear deal remains a sore spot for Iranian hard-liners, but it was a foreign policy victory for moderate President Hassan Rouhani. Rouhani is widely expected to seek a second term in Iran’s May presidential election. Meanwhile, ...back at the laboratory the smoke and fumes had dispersed, to reveal an ominous sight... Ejehi announced the case against the unnamed Iranian-American, who presumably faces fraud charges. "The person has been detained but they were not a government official," he said. The US State Department did not respond to a request for comment. There have been several Iranian-Americans detained in the wake of the nuclear deal, which saw Iran agree to limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of some economic sanctions. Among them are Iranian-American businessman Siamak Namazi and his octogenarian father, Baquer Namazi , who are serving 10-year prison sentences for "cooperating with the hostile American government." Also detained is Robin Shahini , who is serving an 18-year prison sentence "collaboration with a hostile government." Iran does not recognize dual nationalities, meaning that those it detains cannot receive consular assistance. In most of the recent cases, dual nationals have faced secret charges in closed-door hearings before Iran’s Revolutionary Court, which handles cases involving alleged attempts to overthrow the government.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Another hostage: Iranian-American held in Iran gets 18-year sentence — report

2016-10-26

[IsraelTimes] An Iranian-American held in Tehran has reportedly been sentenced to 18 years in prison for "collaboration with a hostile government," becoming yet another dual national convicted in a secret trial since Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers. The sentence handed down to Robin Shahini, a 46-year-old graduate student who lives in San Diego, is the harshest yet for those detained in what analysts believe is hard-liner plan to use them as bargaining chips in future negotiations. Shahini tells Vice News in an interview aired late on Monday that he "just laughed" after hearing his sentence. He acknowledges supporting the protests that followed Iran’s disputed 2009 presidential election, but denies being involved in any sort of spying. "Whatever information they had is all the pictures I posted in Facebook, in my web blog, and they use all those evidence to accuse me," Shahini says in a telephone call from prison. Iranian judiciary officials do not respond to request for comment from The News Agency that Dare Not be Named, nor does Iran’s mission to the United Nations ...an organization conceived in the belief that we're just one big happy world, with the sort of results you'd expect from such nonsense... In a statement, the US State Department says it is troubled by reports of Shahini’s sentence. "We reaffirm our calls on Iran to respect and protect human rights ...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... and fundamental freedoms, cease arbitrary and politically motivated detentions and ensure fair and transparent judicial proceedings," it says.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Iran says has freed Iranian-Canadian academic

2016-09-27

How many pallets of genuine mixed currencies did she cost the Canadian government? [AlAhram] Iranian-Canadian anthropologist Homa Hoodfar who was tossed in the calaboose Book 'im, Mahmoud! and jugged Please don't kill me! in Tehran in June for "security offences" has been released and has left the country, the foreign ministry said on Monday. The official IRNA news agency quoted a ministry front man as saying that the 65-year-old with dual nationality, who had also been accused of "feminist activities", was freed "for humanitarian reasons". Hoodfar travelled to Oman and on to Canada, he said. Iranian state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe? has said Hoodfar was a founding member of a London-based advocacy group, Women Living Under Moslem Law (WLUML). Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a statement that Canadians were relieved that Hoodfar had been released and would "soon be reunited with her family, friends and colleagues". "The government of Canada has been actively and constructively engaged at the highest levels... since her ordeal began," he said. "In the absence of diplomatic representation of its own in Iran, Canada worked closely with others who were instrumental in helping secure Dr Hoodfar's release -- most notably Oman, Italia and Switzerland ...home of the Helvetians, famous for cheese, watches, yodeling, and William Tell... "I would also like to recognize the cooperation of those Iranian authorities who facilitated her release and repatriation," Trudeau said. "They understand that cases like these impede more productive relations." The Times of Israel reminds us: Other known to be held include: — Siamak Namazi , an Iranian-American businessman who has advocated for closer ties between the two countries and whose father is also held in Tehran; -- Baquer Namazi, a former Iranian and UN official in his 80s who is the father of Siamak; -- Robin Shahini, an Iranian-American detained while visiting family who previously had made online comments criticizing Iran’s human rights ...which are usually open to widely divergent definitions... record; -- Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian woman sentenced to five years in prison on allegations of planning the "soft toppling" of Iran’s government while traveling with her young daughter; and -- Nizar Zakka, a US permanent resident from Leb recently sentenced to 10 years in prison and a $4.2 million fine. Still missing is former FBI agent Robert Levinson, who vanished in Iran in 2007 while on an unauthorized CIA mission.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Iran arrests yet another dual national

2016-08-17

[IsraelTimes] Iran increasingly targeting those with foreign citizenship, ties in wake of nuclear deal with world powers Kidnapping: it's what caliphates do. "Effendi, we're running short of cash." "What?? What happened to all those Euros we got from the U.S.?" "Well Effendi, expenses run large, particularly with Hezbollah..." "Stop already! I know about expenses. Hmmm, we got any foreigners handy?" Iran has detained an Iranian with citizenship in another country over allegations the person had links to British intelligence services, a prosecutor said Tuesday, the latest dual national tossed in the clink ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... in the country. The circumstances surrounding this most-recent detention were unclear, but they come as hard-liners in Iran’s security forces increasingly target those with foreign ties in the wake of the country’s nuclear deal with world powers. Speaking to journalists, Tehran prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi described the individual arrested as being "active in the economic field, related to Iran," the official IRNA news agency reported. Dolatabadi didn’t elaborate, saying only that the arrest took place last week. He also did not identify the individual’s second nationality. Iran does not recognize dual nationalities, meaning those detained cannot receive consular assistance. In previous cases involving dual nationals, like the detention of Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian, officials initially announced indictments had been handed down without providing specifics. Later, news organizations with close ties to security services offered details of the charges. Those detained typically face trial in Iran’s Revolutionary Court, a closed-door tribunal which handles cases involving alleged attempts to overthrow the government. Rezaian was convicted but later released in January as part of a prisoner swap between Iran and the US. It’s unclear why Iran is increasingly detaining dual nationals, but analysts and others have suggested hard-liners want concessions from the West in exchange for releasing them. Those recently detained in Iran include: • Homa Hoodfar, an Iranian-Canadian woman who is a retired professor at Montreal’s Concordia University; ...she is actually an Iranian-Irish-Canadian, holding passports for all three countries, not that Iran cares. • Siamak Namazi, an Iranian-American businessman who has advocated for closer ties between the two countries and whose father is also held in Tehran; • Baquer Namazi, a former Iranian and UN official in his 80s who is the father of Siamak; • Robin Shahini, an Iranian-American detained while visiting family who previously had made online comments criticizing Iran’s human rights ...which are often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless... record; • Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian woman held in Iran for months over accusations she planned the "soft toppling" of the government while visiting relatives with her young daughter; and • Nizar Zakka, a US permanent resident from Leb who has done work for the American government . Still missing is former FBI agent Robert Levinson, who vanished in Iran in 2007 while on an unauthorized CIA mission.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Iran apparently detains another American

2016-07-22

SAN DIEGO -- The U.S. State Department said Thursday that it is looking into reports another American has been detained in Iran. State Department spokesman John Kirby would not comment further on the detention of Robin Shahini. What have we learned in 37 years ? The girlfriend of the San Diego man said Shahini's sister told her Iranian authorities took him into custody July 11 while he was visiting family in his native Iran There it is. He's a dual citizen, and thought the American citizenship would protect him. and he has not been heard from since. She said she worries Shahini was detained because of his online comments criticizing Iran's human rights record. No doubt. Or they just wanted another American hostage, and he was convenient. At a news conference Thursday, Secretary of State John Kerry declined to comment on the detention. The Revolutionary Guard, a paramilitary force charged with protecting the Islamic Republic, increasingly has targeted those with Western ties since the nuclear deal in which Iran agreed to limit its uranium enrichment in exchange for the lifting of sanctions. Officials at the Interests Section of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Washington, D.C., could not be reached for comment Thursday. Good thing we made that deal and lifted sanctions -- imagine the lack of good will we'd have otherwise... A prisoner swap in January between Iran and the U.S. freed Washington Post correspondent Jason Rezaian and three other Iranian-Americans. Shahini, 46, graduated in May from San Diego State University with a degree in International Security and Conflict Resolution. He had been accepted to SDSU's graduate program in Homeland Security, but he has not registered for classes yet, according to university officials. His girlfriend said he left for Iran on May 25 to see his mother, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. The girlfriend said she communicated with Shahini on July 10 and was expecting to hear back the next day to help him get his paperwork to the university. She grew concerned after not hearing from him. She eventually reached his family, who told her Iranian intelligence officials came to their home in Gordon, Iran, and took him away. Authorities searched the home and took his personal belongings, she said. The family has not talked or seen him since. He had a plane ticket to return to San Diego on July 25 and had planned to start classes on Aug. 22, the girlfriend said. "He's majoring in international security, so his passion involves peace and justice, human rights," the girlfriend said. "He's open about being a human rights advocate. But it's not only limited to Iran, he's also posted about other countries too." She insisted to CBS San Diego affiliate KFMB-TV that Shahini hasn't done "anything wrong." But terrorism expert Robert Baer, a former CIA case officer, told the station he's not surprised about the apparent detention. "They don't need evidence to arrest American-Iranians," Baer said. "They simply suspect them of being American spies or dissidents. And if there's the slightest negative piece of information about them, they'll arrest them." Baer said he doesn't expect U.S. officials to have much luck with Iranian authorities. "They're a hard-headed bunch, Iranian intelligence, and vicious, to say the least. I don't have any hope that this is going to be settled anytime soon," he said. Shahini left Iran in 1998 and has lived in San Diego for 16 years.

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