Nahid Tagavi, Iranian-German Prisoner, Tool of Iran’s Government Bargaining

Tagavi was detained in Tehran eight weeks ago and it is still unclear what charges she faces. Germany’s efforts to clarify her situation have gone nowhere. Apparently, the Islamic Republic is using her, like other imprisoned dual nationals, as a bargaining tool.

Nahid Tagavi, 66, is a dual Iranian-German prisoner who was detained on October 16. Her daughter, Maryam Claren, in an interview with a reporter from German television channel ARD in Turkey, refers to this date and says: “I feel like I was living in a bubble until that day. I had never dealt with human rights violations or political prisoners before. But that bubble burst that day.”

The ARD office reporter in Istanbul wrote about the anger and despair of Maryam Claren, Nahid Tagavi’s 40-year-old daughter, who is deeply concerned about her mother and whose calls to Iran have gone unanswered. Maryam Claren says she does not know why the Islamic Republic imprisoned her mother. Not only she, but apparently the German government has also not yet received any information from the Iranian government about the charges against Nahid Tagavi.

When Nahid Tagavi is arrested, no one is informed of her detention for several days. Her daughter calls her repeatedly but no one answers the phone. She asks her uncle to visit her sister’s apartment in Tehran and see what has happened to her. There is no news of her sister at the apartment, and everything inside is turned upside down and searched. Neighbors tell Maryam Claren’s uncle that his sister was taken by security forces.

“She is dead”

During the 12 days she was without news of her mother, Maryam Claren imagined all sorts of horrific scenarios. She says: “This uncertainty was truly catastrophic. As a daughter, you think a thousand thoughts and fears. You think everything is over and she is dead.”

After this period, finally her uncle’s phone in Tehran rings. An Evin prison officer is on the line and says Nahid Tagavi is there and they can have a short phone call. The call lasts less than a minute; just enough for Nahid Tagavi to say she does not know why she was arrested.

Two months pass from that phone call and Ms. Tagavi’s charges have still not been announced. Her daughter says that according to Iranian law, charges must be presented in writing within eight weeks, but their lawyer has yet to receive any information from Iranian authorities. She herself has not even been able to speak to her mother once. Her uncle in Tehran has been told that contact with outside Iran is not permitted.

Ms. Tagavi is 66 years old and according to international human rights organizations, she has been an activist for women’s rights and freedom of speech. She came to Germany in 1983 and since 2003 has held German citizenship in addition to Iranian citizenship. Tagavi has traveled back and forth between Iran and Germany over the past 15 years.

Dual nationals: both tools of bargaining and victims of power struggle in Iran

Why was Nahid Tagavi arrested? According to the ARD reporter, this can only be speculated about. Nahid Tagavi is a retired architect who for years traveled between Germany and Iran with two passports without any problems. Her daughter says her mother has never made political statements in public forums. Does this change her situation?

Berzo Daragahi, Iran expert at the American think tank the Atlantic Council, says this is not a criterion for the Iranian government. Rather, Iranian hardliners who have the upper hand in the government and judiciary use dual national citizens as bargaining tools for negotiations or prisoner exchanges.

Daragahi told the ARD reporter that in many cases, charges are fabricated after arrest. In this way, they “put the person in solitary confinement. They wake him up in the middle of the night, interrogate him for 14 hours. Then they might let him sleep for an hour and start the interrogation again. Sometimes they keep the lights on in the cell 24 hours.” According to Daragahi, the prisoner under constant pressure eventually becomes willing to sign whatever is put in front of him.

He also refers to the power struggle in Iran, which many have become victims of, and says: “There is currently a power struggle between hardliners who control the judiciary and the moderate and conservative government of the clergy in Iran. Many observers believe that the hardline faction believes that attempts should be made to undermine the government’s efforts to approach the West. This is a prelude to Iran’s presidential election next summer.”

According to Berzo Daragahi, the hardliners’ effort is focused on “preventing the current government from successfully reviving the nuclear agreement before the elections.”

Lack of consular access to Nahid Tagavi’s case or visits with her

The German Foreign Ministry warned dual nationals for the first time in mid-November not to travel to Iran. The Foreign Ministry, in response to a question from German television channel ARD, wrote that the increased pressure on dual nationals is not limited to Iranian-Germans, but also includes dual nationals of Sweden, France, and Britain.

Probably Nahid Tagavi’s arrest played an important role in the German Foreign Ministry’s warning. The German Foreign Ministry confirmed that it has repeatedly raised the issue of Nahid Tagavi’s detention with Iran. Germany, in recent days and during Germany’s protest against the execution of Ruhollah Zam, demanded the release of all political prisoners. A protest that led to the summons of the German ambassador in Iran.

Maryam Claren says that although she is very pleased with the position of the German government, she wishes Germany would clearly demand her mother’s release and mention her by name. The German Embassy in Tehran has not yet been able to gain consular access to Nahid Tagavi and her case, but the German government has said it will continue its efforts.

In any case, it is now said that German embassy staff have been able to get Nahid Tagavi’s blood pressure medication to her in prison. An act that has somewhat reduced her daughter’s burden of worry and fear. Last week, on the occasion of Human Rights Day, she participated in a protest rally in the city of Frankfurt and in her speech in front of the Iranian consulate demanded her mother’s immediate release.

Ms. Tagavi’s daughter told the ARD reporter: “Even if this speech does not help, at least I was able to scream my anger, and that felt good.”

Source: DW