UK professor held in Tehran, activists say
A computer scientist and mathematician, Edalat was arrested on unknown charges when in Iran for a workshop
ABritish-Iranian university professor who actively campaigns against military action targeting his homeland has been detained in Iran by the country’s hardline Revolutionary Guard, a rights group says, becoming the latest dual national held there since the 2015 nuclear deal.
The British Foreign Office said late on Wednesday night it was “urgently seeking information” after the Centre for Human Rights in Iran said computer scientist and mathematician Abbas Edalat had been detained.
Iranian state media did not immediately report on Edalat’s case, which isn’t unusual in cases involving dual nationals.
Refused to post bail
It’s unclear what charges he faces, though typically those arrested by the Guard face espionage or security-related charges and closed-door trials where guilty verdicts come down without the opportunity to defend themselves.
Edalat is a professor at Imperial College London.
The university did not respond to requests for comment.
Edalat travelled to Iran for an academic workshop and was arrested April 15, according to the Centre for Human Rights in Iran. He refused to post bail Wednesday, arguing he is innocent of the unknown charges and should be freed, the Centre said. The Guard also raided his home in Tehran.
“Iran’s continued arbitrary arrests of dual nationals without transparency and lack of due process is extremely concerning,” Hadi Ghaemi, the centre’s executive director, said.
“The Iranian judiciary and the security establishment, particularly the Revolutionary Guard, are responsible for the well-being of these detainees.”
Iran does not recognise dual nationalities, so detainees like Edalat cannot receive consular assistance. A UN panel in September described “an emerging pattern involving the arbitrary deprivation of liberty of dual nationals” in Iran, which Tehran denied.
Analysts and family members of dual nationals and others detained in Iran say hardliners in the Islamic republic’s security agencies use the prisoners as bargaining chips in negotiations with the West.
Iran and Britain are discussing the possible release of some £400 million (Dh2 billion) held by London since the 1979 Islamic Revolution for a tank purchase that never happened.