Spouse of Ahmadrezaa Jalalii Says Execution of Dual-National Physician Imprisoned in Iran Has Been Postponed
Following reports about the transfer of Ahmadrezaa Jalalii, an Iranian-Swedish physician imprisoned in Iran, to Rajaee Shahr Prison for execution, his spouse says that the execution order against Mr. Jalalii has been postponed for an indefinite period.
Vida Mehrannia, spouse of Ahmadrezaa Jalalii, said on Wednesday, December 3rd in an interview with Voice of America that this morning Mosoviyan, Ahmadrezaa Jalalii’s lawyer, was informed that the execution has been postponed for several days and Mr. Jalalii will not be transferred to Rajaee Shahr Prison for execution. According to Ms. Mehrannia, the prosecutor’s office of the revolutionary court informed the lawyer that this order came from “higher authorities.”
In recent days, contradictory reports have emerged about the possible execution of this dual-national citizen. According to Ms. Mehrannia, when the case lawyer visited the revolutionary prosecutor’s office on Tuesday, December 2nd, he was initially told that Mr. Jalalii’s execution had been postponed for another week. However, before the lawyer left the revolutionary prosecutor’s office, judicial authorities told him that the order had changed and Mr. Jalalii was to be transferred to Rajaee Shahr Prison at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, December 2nd for execution.
Regarding the postponement of her husband’s execution order, Ms. Mehrannia told Voice of America: “I had a conversation with Sweden’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday and I think the reason for the postponement of the execution order is the relations between Iran and Sweden… but I have no specific information about what diplomatic talks have taken place between Iranian and Swedish authorities.”
Ahmadrezaa Jalalii’s spouse told Voice of America: “This order still stands and I don’t know the reason for its postponement. But I hope this issue will be resolved through relations between countries and Mr. Jalalii will return to his family.”
Ahmadrezaa Jalalii was arrested in 2016 when he traveled from Sweden to Iran to visit his family. He was subsequently sentenced to death by Iran’s revolutionary court on charges of transferring confidential information to Mossad at the height of Iran’s nuclear program activities. The Supreme Court also rejected a request for review of this sentence in less than an hour.
Previously, Mr. Jalalii’s spouse, while pointing to the dangerous situation of this imprisoned physician and researcher in Iran, told Voice of America: “I have no more hope and don’t know what will happen… Ahmadrezaa had been recognized as an exemplary researcher in Iran for several years and the Iranian authorities have no right to sacrifice Ahmadrezaa for any reason. There is no legally justified reason against Ahmadrezaa and we demand that the Islamic Republic annul his sentence and release him.”
The organization “United Against Iran Nuclear” which recently published an article on its website reviewing the history of hostage-taking under Iran’s Islamic Republic regime, noting Iran’s government’s refusal to recognize dual citizenship of Iranian citizens, announced that the Iranian regime uses this rationale to deprive dual-national citizens of consular services from their country of residence. According to this organization, the Iranian regime in fact targets these individuals precisely because of their dual citizenship to use this as a pretext as a bargaining chip in negotiations with Western countries.
The Iranian regime has intensified the detention of foreign and dual-national citizens in recent years. The U.S. State Department has repeatedly condemned the arbitrary and unlawful detention of American citizens and citizens of other countries, including dual-national Iranians, by the Islamic Republic regime and has called for their immediate and unconditional release.
Source: Voice of America
