Iran calls on its expats to return as US fears of treachery by mullahs

Eslam Mohamed

Iranian Chief Justice Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei’s call for the return of expatriates with open judicial files has been met with astonishment and denunciation due to the black file of the Iranian regime in dealing with this category.

US warning

US Special Envoy for Iranian Affairs Robert Malley warned Iranian citizens living abroad not to go to Iran due to the possibility of being kidnapped and detained for being dual nationals, especially as Iranian prisons are suffering from the outbreak of the corona virus.

“It is in the interest of Iranians abroad who have files or cases in Iran to return to the country,” Mohseni-Ejei said on Monday, August 9, adding, “Currently there are people abroad who do not have an agent for their property and facilities at home, and some stakeholders scare them from returning to the country, but if these people return, their financial problems will be clarified through a simple, accurate and clear investigation.”

Kidnapping and imprisonment

The US State Department announced that “American citizens who have traveled to Iran have been kidnapped, imprisoned and charged with serious charges.”

“Iranian authorities continue to unjustly detain American citizens, especially Iranian-American citizens, including students, journalists, businessmen and academics, on charges such as espionage and posing a threat to national security,” it continued.

The statement also added that Iranian officials are continuously delaying the possibility of providing lawyers for detained US citizens, and the State Department advised citizens who need an urgent trip to Tehran to write their will before going on this dangerous journey and to authorize the appropriate people to take custody of any children and pets they leave behind, as well as their property.

According to Human Rights Watch, the security services in Iran have increased the targeting of Iranian citizens with dual nationalities and foreign nationals, believing that they have links with Western academic, economic and cultural institutions.

Documented cases

Human Rights Watch also documented the cases of 14 dual nationals arrested by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ intelligence since 2014, in which courts accused them in many cases of collaborating with an “enemy country,” without disclosing any evidence. Controversy raged over Iranian citizens who hold Western nationalities and are imprisoned by the regime, while their number, according to UN human rights reports, ranges between 30 to 50 people who are being accused of espionage.

The Iranian regime uses the card of foreign detainees as a bargaining chip to achieve its political goals by extorting Western countries and putting pressure to achieve its interests in the negotiations in Vienna, Austria.