An Austrian-Iranian citizen has been imprisoned in Iran for six months.
The Secretary General of the “Austria-Iran Association” has been in Evin Prison since late January 2019. He is Dr. Masoud Mosaheb, 72. Efforts by the Austrian Foreign Minister and the country’s ambassador to clarify the matter and secure his release have so far been unsuccessful.
Whenever a citizen of another country was imprisoned in the Islamic Republic of Iran, it was often the Austrian government that played a mediating role. Today, things have reached a point where the Austrian government cannot do anything for one of its citizens who is in Iranian prisons.
The website of the Vienna-based newspaper "Standard" writes that after a computer science consultant named "Kamran Ghaderi" was arrested in Iran in 2016 on charges of espionage and sentenced to ten years in prison, another dual citizen has been in prison in the Islamic Republic for six months. He is Masoud Mosaheb, the secretary general of the "Austria-Iran Association".
The Standard writes that the association is chaired by Werner Fasslaband, the former Austrian Minister of Defense. One of the functions of such associations is to maintain contact between governments even in difficult times, and such difficult times are not uncommon for the Islamic Republic.
It is surprising that the Islamic Republic authorities have targeted Massoud Musaheb. Fasslaband tells the Standard newspaper that Mr. Musaheb has “dedicated a lot of effort to improve relations between Austria and Iran for almost 25 years.”
Faslaband has called on Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to strive for "transparency in the rule of law" in "this completely incomprehensible and absurd case."
The Standard newspaper contacted the Islamic Republic's embassy in Vienna to request an explanation in this regard, but has not yet received a response.
Massoud Mosaheb was arrested in Tehran in early January 2019. He has lived in Austria since 1965 and received his doctorate in mechanical engineering from the Technical University of Vienna in 1975. He has held Austrian citizenship since 1980.
Mr. Mosaheb traveled to Iran in January 2019 with a delegation from the company “Med Astron.” Med Astron is a center in northern Austria for treatment and research with ion molecules (ionotherapy), which also has a project in this field in Tehran.
Alfred Zens, CEO of MedAstron, who was on the Tehran trip that led to Mr. Mosaheb’s arrest, told The Standard that the arrest “does not appear to be related to this project; the delegation traveled to Iran and had discussions with its business partner in Iran and a meeting with Professor Mosaheb.” He expressed hope that the matter would be clarified as soon as possible.
According to the Standard, 72-year-old Mr. Mosaheb suffers from complications from several pre-existing illnesses, and his prison conditions and inadequate treatment could harm his health.
After his arrest in late January 2019, no one knew what happened to him, as he had suddenly disappeared. After several weeks of absence, he finally called his family to inform them that he was in Evin Prison. His family members were able to visit him for the first time in mid-April.
Meanwhile, the Austrian Foreign Minister and the country's ambassador to Tehran have called on the Islamic Republic's Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, to clarify the issue and release him. However, the Islamic Republic's officials say that Massoud Musaheb entered the country with an Iranian passport and that this is an internal issue and has nothing to do with Austria.
Source: DW
