Detention of dual nationals continues in Iran; Akbar Lakestani was arrested and imprisoned upon entering the country
Akbar Lakestani, a dual citizen residing in the United States, was arrested by IRGC intelligence agents at the "Seru" border in Urmia after entering Iranian territory.
Reza Lakestani, Akbar Lakestani's son, told VOA that his father (Akbar Lakestani) was arrested by IRGC intelligence agents in Urmia on Saturday, October 26, while attempting to enter Iran through the Sarv border in Urmia to visit his sick and elderly mother and was transferred to the detention center of this security institution.
According to him, Mr. Lakestani announced on Thursday, October 1, in a brief call with other family members in Iran, that he had been transferred to Urmia Central Prison.
Reza Lakstani told VOA that the last contact the family had was on Friday, October 25, when Akbar Lakstani's children spoke to him while he was stationed in the Turkish city of Van. After that, the family lost contact with this dual citizen. After two days, the family learned of Mr. Lakstani's arrest, first through friends and then through local media.
The Campaign for the Defense of Political and Civil Prisoners had previously announced in a report that Reza Lakistani, the former head of the Shout City Council, is from Maku and a veteran of the Iran-Iraq War. He was arrested in early 2007 on charges of "insulting government officials" and "propaganda activities against the government" and was later sentenced to three years in prison by the Khoy Revolutionary Court.
Reza Lakestani also told VOA about Mr. Lakestani's arrest in 2007. In the fall of 2008, Mr. Lakestani was transferred to Maku Prison to serve his three-year prison sentence. In June 2009, he was able to temporarily leave prison by taking leave, and he left Iran on June 20, 2009.
According to Reza Lakestani, the family's only request is for Mr. Lakestani's immediate release from prison, because his father has not committed any crime.
In addition to Akbar Lakestani, several other American and non-American citizens—including Nazanin Zaghari, Siamak and Bagher Namazi, Michael White, Zhiyu Wang, Aras Amiri, and Kamran Ghaderi—are currently imprisoned in Iran. The fate of Robert Levinson, another American citizen who disappeared in Iran more than twelve years ago, is also unknown.
Recently, family members of some dual-citizen Iranians who have been frustrated by separate efforts to free their loved ones from the Islamic Republic's prisons formed an organization called the "Families' Alliance Against Hostage Taking by Governments."
The United States Department of State has repeatedly condemned the Islamic Republic's regime's arbitrary and unjustified detention of American and other citizens, including dual-national Iranians, and called for their immediate and unconditional release.
Source: Voice of America
