German politicians welcome release of Taghavi from Iranian prison

A German citizen arrested in Iran more than three years ago has been granted a partial release, her daughter said.

Nahid Taghavi, who also has Iranian citizenship, has been freed from Evin Prison but must wear an ankle tag and stay within a kilometre of her apartment in Tehran.

The conditions made Ms Taghavi’s release “more comparable to house arrest”, her daughter, Mariam Claren, said on Tuesday.

“However, we hope this furlough is an important first step for her unconditional release,” Ms Claren said.

German politicians welcomed the news after lobbying for Ms Taghavi’s release following her arrest in Tehran in October 2020.

“After 1,181 days in prison as a political prisoner, Nahid Taghavi can finally recover on prison furlough,” said former minister Hermann Grohe.

Ms Taghavi, who was detained along with British-Iranian citizen Mehran Raoof, was accused of illegal propaganda activities and helping to lead a banned group. She denied the accusations.

In 2021, she was sentenced to 10 years and eight months in prison on what her supporters said were spurious charges.

Ms Claren said her mother, then 66, was interrogated by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps for more than 1,000 hours without access to a lawyer.

“My mother’s trials were a farce,” Ms Claren wrote in The National last year, as she described conditions in solitary confinement “designed to break the prisoner”.

“My mother slept on a stone floor in a small cell, alone, without a bed, mattress or pillow for 194 days. She wore a blindfold for months, was monitored by cameras and had little access to fresh air,” she said.

“The food rations were deliberately kept small; she lost 14kg during this time. Her health deteriorated rapidly, but they failed to break her spirit.”

In the past, Iran has taken dual nationals prisoner and has been accused of using them as political bargaining chips.

It does not recognise their dual citizenship, meaning the detainees have limited consular support.

However, some of these prisoners have previously been freed on furlough as a prelude to their full release.

In one of the most high-profile cases, British-Iranian national Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was allowed out on furlough on several occasions before she was permitted to leave Iran in 2022.