Wife of Anousheh Ashouri, an engineer imprisoned in Iran, calls the spying charges against her "fabricated"
The husband of Anousheh Ashouri, a British-Iranian engineer imprisoned in Iran, has called the charges against him fabricated and called for his release.
Sherry (Shahrzad) Izadi Behnam, who has launched an online campaign to sign a petition demanding her husband's release, wrote in a text she wrote on the occasion that her husband is a 65-year-old civil engineer who went to Iran to visit his 86-year-old mother about two years ago and was arrested.
A month ago, the Iranian judiciary spokesman announced that Anousheh Ashouri had been sentenced to 12 years in prison and a fine of 33,000 euros on charges of spying for Israel.
This is despite the fact that Mr. Ashouri's wife has stated that he has never been involved in political activities and that his most important interest in life has been inventing and building earthquake-resistant houses.
According to her, her husband is a calm, conscientious, and kind man, and instead of being with his family, he is spending his life in a notorious and oppressive prison on "trumped-up charges."
Ms. Izadi added: "He has become a victim of his dual nationality and I believe he is being used as a bargaining chip in negotiations between Iran and Britain."
He continued by calling Mr. Ashouri's trial a farce and said that his appeal had also been rejected.
Mrs. Izadi called on the authorities of the Islamic Republic to release her husband and also asked the British authorities to do everything in their power to bring her husband home.
He has asked everyone to support his efforts to bring his wife back by signing a letter.
In recent years, the Islamic Republic's security apparatus has repeatedly arrested Western citizens and dual nationals on charges of infiltration and espionage and sentenced them to long prison terms; charges that have been largely denied by the families of the detainees.
In recent months, in addition to Anousheh Ashouri, Aras Amiri, a student and former employee of the British Council who resided in the UK, has also been sentenced to 10 years in prison on charges of espionage.
Other dual Iranian-British prisoners in Iran are Nazanin Zaghari and Kamil Ahmadi. Two days ago, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called on Hassan Rouhani in New York to release the dual nationals.
In addition to the dual nationals mentioned, several other American and non-American citizens—including Siamak and Bagher Namazi, Michael White, Zhiyu Wang, 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.
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
