Detention of dual-nationality citizens in Iran continues; Akbar Laksatani arrested upon entering the country
Akbar Laksatani, a dual-nationality citizen residing in the United States, was detained at the Sarv border crossing in Urmia by the information agents of the IRGC Urmia unit upon entering Iranian territory.
Reza Laksatani, the son of Akbar Laksatani, told Voice of America that his father (Akbar Laksatani) was detained on Saturday, September 27, while attempting to enter Iranian territory through the Sarv border crossing in Urmia to visit his elderly and ill mother, by the information agents of the IRGC Urmia unit and was transferred to the detention facility of this security organization.
According to him, Mr. Laksatani announced on Thursday, October 2, during a brief communication with other family members in Iran, that he has currently been transferred to Urmia Central Prison.
Reza Laksatani told Voice of America that the family’s last contact dates back to Friday, September 26, when Akbar Laksatani’s children communicated with him while he was based in Van, Turkey, and after that, the family lost contact with this dual-nationality citizen, and the family became aware of Mr. Laksatani’s detention after two days, first through friends and then through local media.
The Civil and Political Prisoners’ Defense Campaign had previously stated in a report that Reza Laksatani is the former head of the Shout city council under Maku and a war veteran of the Iran-Iraq war who was arrested in early 2007 on charges of “insulting system officials” and “propaganda activities against the system” and was subsequently sentenced to three years imprisonment by the Khoy Revolutionary Court.
Reza Laksatani also told Voice of America regarding Mr. Laksatani’s 2008 detention that in fall 2008, Mr. Laksatani was transferred to Maku Prison to serve his three-year sentence, and in June 2009 he was able to temporarily leave prison by obtaining a furlough and left Iran on June 20, 2009.
According to Reza Laksatani, the family’s only demand is the immediate release of Mr. Laksatani from prison, since his father has committed no crime.
Currently, in addition to Akbar Laksatani, several American and non-American citizens—including Nazanin Zaghari, Siamak and Baquer Namazi, Michael White, Zhou Wang, Ares Amiri, and Kamran Ghaderi—are imprisoned in Iran. There is no information about the fate of Robert Levinson, another American citizen who disappeared in Iran over twelve years ago.
Recently, members of families of some dual-nationality Iranians who have despaired of separate efforts to free their loved ones from the prisons of the Islamic Republic have formed an organization called “United Families Against State Hostage-Taking.”
The U.S. State Department has repeatedly condemned the arbitrary and unlawful detention of American citizens and those of other countries, including dual-nationality Iranians, by the Islamic Republic regime and has called for their immediate and unconditional release.
Source: Voice of America
