TEHRAN -- A high-ranking Judiciary official said Friday that a total of 30 Iranian nationals are being held behind bars abroad on charges of circumventing Washington’s anti-Iran sanctions, adding that the judiciary, the foreign ministry, and Iranian diplomatic missions are following up on their cases.
“Due to the dual approach of the West on the issue of human rights, the number of Iranians who need human rights protections abroad is not small,” Kazem Gharibabadi, the Judiciary chief’s deputy for international affairs and secretary of the country’s High Council for Human Rights, said.
“There are many examples in this regard, like the sham trial of [former Iranian judiciary official] Hamid Nouri in Sweden, the violent mistreatment of a female Iranian asylum seeker by the Danish police in front of her child, and even Iranians being prosecuted under the pretext of circumventing US sanctions against Iran,” he said.
He noted that the Iranian detainees will undoubtedly need the support offered by Iran’s Human Rights Headquarters.
“We follow up on the problems of our compatriots abroad in several ways, mostly through Iranian embassies and by contacting relevant officials, as was the case in
Denmark and the mistreatment of an Iranian asylum by the Danish police. I corresponded with the Danish minister of immigration [Mattias Tesfaye] in this regard. Of course, there are other mechanisms,” Gharibabadi stated.
“Our consular section at the Foreign Ministry is following up on the problems. I would also like to emphasize that in some cases the follow-up is lengthy and does not mean that we are abandoning them. We give various forms of human rights support as well as legal, judicial, political and consular pursuit to those who are in trouble,” he said.