The Westerners held in the prisons of the Islamic Republic constitute, in all fairness, an international case. But they are a tiny fraction of the more than 8,000 non-Iranian citizens held by Tehran. In 95% of the cases they are Afghan immigrants; more than 70 of them were sentenced to hanging in 2024. Other countries of origin of the prisoners are Pakistan, Iraq, Turkey, Azerbaijan and India.
Tehran () – The case of the Italian journalist Cecilia Sala, arrested in Iran and held under generic accusations and in conditions that her family has defined as worrying despite guarantees from Tehran, has once again put the focus on “diplomacy of the hostages”. A practice consolidated by the Islamic Republic since the dawn of its history, with the assault on the United States embassy and the kidnapping of 52 American diplomats inside, who were prisoners from November 4, 1979 to January 20, 1981. Arbitrary arrests have continued over time and have often involved journalists, as happened in 2009 with the American Roxana Saberi, imprisoned from January to May 2009 after a sentence, reduced and later suspended, for “espionage.” However, to date there are “only” six Westerners in Tehran prisons, out of a total of more than 8,000 foreign prisoners, the vast majority of whom are of Afghan origin, who also constitute the largest number of non-Iranians convicted. to death and hanged in the country.
Analysts and experts point out that, precisely since the hostage crisis in the United States, the Islamic Republic has exploited the detention of foreign (Western) citizens, even for long periods, to use them as bargaining chips with their respective governments and in relations with other countries. Foreigners and immigrants with dual nationality, victims of arbitrary arrests and summary convictions with “violations of due process” and “politically motivated” sentences, according to a report by Human Rights Watch (HRW).
In addition to the Italian journalist, the “westerners” currently detained in Iranian prisons are: Nazak Afshar, a French citizen, in prison since March 12, 2016; Swedish-Iranian doctor Ahmad Reza Djalali, arrested in April 2016 and sentenced to death on charges of espionage and treason; The Canadian-Iranian Abdolrasoul Dorri-Esfahani, convicted of espionage and in prison since August 2016; the German Nahid Taghavi, in prison since 2020, the same as Mehran Raoof, originally from the United Kingdom. Among the Iranians with “permanent residence permits” in the United States who are currently in Iran’s prisons are Kurdish activist Afshin Sheikholeslami Vatani (since 2020) and Shahab Dalili (since 2016).
Their circumstances are a cause of concern for public opinion in their countries of origin and their respective governments, but they represent only a small part of the foreigners detained in the prisons of the Islamic Republic. In fact, the number exceeds 8,000 and is made up of the vast majority of Afghan immigrants (around 95% according to official data), for whom Tehran has begun negotiations with representatives of the Taliban in order to allow them to serve their sentences in their country of origin. origin. However, the return is hampered by “infrastructural weaknesses” in Afghanistan and an internal legal system that even the Iranian authorities consider “unsuitable.” The charges against them include drug trafficking, robbery and illegal border crossing. Among the imprisoned foreigners there are also citizens of Pakistan, Iraq, Türkiye, Azerbaijan and India.
Afghan immigrants also have the unenviable record of foreigners who have ended up in the hands of the executioner in Iran. In fact, in 2024 alone, Iranian authorities hanged more than 70 Afghan prisoners, a 300% increase compared to the previous year, according to data provided by the Iran Human Rights Organization. Most of the executions were carried out for drug-related crimes at the Qezel Hesar central prison. The increase coincided with the return to power of the Taliban: from 16 in 2022, they went to 25 in 2023, reaching 72 in the first 11 months of the year that just ended.
Legal experts have linked the increase in executions to the absence of a legitimate and responsible government in Kabul and consider that Iran is exploiting the power vacuum to intensify the execution of Afghan citizens, in the context of impunity and tensions between the two countries. That is why human rights movements and groups have renewed their calls asking both the Taliban and international legal organizations to address the plight of Afghan migrants and prisoners in the Islamic Republic.
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