Ahmad Reza Jalali's wife says the execution of this dual-national doctor imprisoned in Iran has been postponed
Following the release of news that Ahmadreza Jalali, an Iranian-Swedish physician imprisoned in Iran, was transferred to Rajai Shahr Prison to be executed, his wife says that Mr. Jalali's execution has been postponed indefinitely.
Vida Mehrannia, the wife of Ahmad Reza Jalali, told VOA on Wednesday, December 1, that this morning, Ms. Moussavian, Ahmad Reza Jalali’s lawyer, was informed that the execution of the sentence has been postponed for a few days and that Mr. Jalali will not be transferred to Rajai Shahr Prison to serve the sentence. According to Ms. Mehrannia, the lawyer was informed at the Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office that this order came from “higher authorities.”
In recent days, there has been conflicting news about the possible execution of this dual-citizen. According to Ms. Mehrannia, when the lawyer for the case approached the Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office on Tuesday, December 1, she was initially told that the execution of Mr. Jalali’s sentence had been postponed for another week. However, before the lawyer left the Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office, judicial officials told her that the sentence had been changed and that Mr. Jalali was scheduled to be transferred to Rajai Shahr Prison at 5:00 PM on Tuesday, December 1, to serve the sentence.
Regarding the postponement of her husband's execution, Ms. Mehrannia told VOA: "I had a conversation with the Swedish Foreign Ministry on Tuesday, and I think the reason for the postponement of the execution is the relations between Iran and Sweden... but I have no specific information about what diplomatic discussions have taken place between Iranian and Swedish officials."
Ahmad Reza Jalali's wife told VOA: "This sentence is still in effect and I do not know the reason for the postponement. But I hope this issue will be resolved through relations between countries and Mr. Jalali will return to his family."
Ahmadreza Jalali was arrested in 2016 while visiting his family in Sweden. He was later sentenced to death by the Iranian Revolutionary Court on charges of passing classified information to Mossad at the height of Iran’s nuclear program. The Supreme Court rejected his appeal for a review of the sentence in less than an hour.
Earlier, Mr. Jalali's wife, while referring to the dangerous situation of this imprisoned physician and researcher in Iran, told Voice of America: "I have no hope anymore and I don't know what will happen. ... Ahmad Reza was known as a model researcher in Iran for several years, and it is not right for the Iranian authorities to sacrifice Ahmad Reza for any reason. There is no justifiable reason against Ahmad Reza, and we call on the Islamic Republic to overturn Ahmad Reza's sentence and release him."
The "Unity Against Nuclear Iran" organization, which recently published an article on its website examining the history of hostage-taking in the Islamic Republic of Iran regime, referring to the Iranian government's refusal to recognize the dual citizenship of Iranian citizens, has announced that the Iranian regime, with this same reasoning, is depriving dual citizens of the right to consular services in their country of residence. According to the organization, the Iranian regime is in fact targeting these individuals precisely because of their dual citizenship, in order to use this excuse as a bargaining chip in negotiations with Western countries.
The Iranian regime has intensified its detention of foreign nationals and dual citizens in recent years. The U.S. State Department has repeatedly condemned the Islamic Republic’s arbitrary and unjustified detention of U.S. and foreign citizens, including dual Iranian nationals, by the regime and called for their immediate and unconditional release.
Source: Voice of America
