My son did not do anything wrong, says Irish father of man detained in Iran since October
The father of Bernard Phelan, the Irish-French dual citizen who has been in prison in Iran since October, will hand over a petition to the Iranian embassy in Dublin on Thursday.
Originally from County Tipperary, Mr Phelan, 64, was arrested during a protest in the city of Mashhad, despite his father saying he had done nothing wrong.
Demonstrations have swept the country since Iranian-Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini, 22, died in police custody in September.
Mr Phelan was sentenced to six and a half years in prison by authorities this month, his family said.
Mr Phelan works as a tour operator, lives in France and was travelling on a French passport at the time.
His sister, Caroline Masse -Phelan, said her family intended to hold a vigil outside the Iranian embassy on Thursday because of growing concern about his “fragile” condition.
His father, Vincent Phelan, 97, said on a YouTube video that he thought about his son from the minute he opened his eyes every morning.
“I have lost one son and I have only one left – Bernard,” he said. “For the next few years – I don’t know how long I am going to live. Who does?
“But I rely on Bernard to help me. He was hoping to get home soon. I hope the government are putting pressure on the Iranians.
“I can’t understand why they put Bernard in to prison. Bernard didn’t do anything wrong. I miss him a lot and I’ll miss him more every day. I am relying on him to look after me.” Mr Phelan has only been allowed to have an eight-minute phone call with his father since he went in to prison, his family said.
In recent weeks, he has also had two phone conversations with Ms Masse-Phelan.
When Mr Phelan was arrested during an educational visit, he was working as a consultant for an Iranian tour operator.
Since 2017, he had travelled back and forth once a year to Iran and was promoting the country as a tourist destination.
He was stopped for taking a photograph of a mosque in Mashhad while he was with the chief executive of an Iranian tour operator.
Mr Phelan has strongly denied a charge of helping to incite propaganda against the Tehran government.
“When he travelled he had no idea that these protests would escalate and that his life would be in danger,” Ms Masse-Phelan told RTE Radio 1.
“He was hauled off to the street and into a van, and taken away.
“He is not alone at being one of these hostages being kept in Iran as some sort of pawns in a political game going on in the country. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
She said the family feared for the health of Mr Phelan, who has a heart condition, chronic bone inflammation, and is going blind.
“He is extremely fragile,” Ms Masse-Phelan said.
“His physical health is declining rapidly.
“He has several health issues, cardiac and bone issues.
“But also he is going blind because he had an operation last summer, which was fine and went well, but it hasn’t been treated so he can’t see very far any more.
“He is very concerned that that won’t be repairable when he comes home.”
Ms Masse-Phelan said that only limited medical care was provided in the centre where Mr Phelan is being detained.
“He is just very afraid,” she said.
“He is also extremely depressed because of the length of time he has been in there.
“He just doesn’t see a way out. He understands that the [Irish] government is in close contact with the Iranians, but he doesn’t see the fruits of that.”