ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Kameel Ahmady, a dual British-Iranian national living in Tehran, was arrested and taken into custody on Sunday, according to his wife and human rights activists.
Ahmady, a social anthropologist who studied at the London School of Economics (LSE), was taken by security forces on August 10, his wife Shafaq Rahmani told the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN).
KHRN said Ahmady’s house and car were search repeatedly and some of his belongings confiscated. Rahmani told BBC Persian they took away some documents and Ahmady’s ID card.
He has reportedly been given a one-month detention order and is being held at the notorious Evin Prison.
The reason for his arrest was not specified and it is not known where he is being held. Neither British nor Iranian officials have confirmed the arrest.
“They have not provided any information about the reason for the arrest or the charges against Kameel,” Rahmani wrote on Instagram.
Ahmady’s research covered topics including female genital mutilation (FGM), child marriage, and ethnic minority rights – all sensitive topics in religiously conservative Iran.
According to KHRN he had been living in the Iranian capital for several years.
The arrest comes at a sensitive time in UK-Iran relations after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) seized a British-flagged vessel in the Strait of Hormuz July 19 in retaliation for the detention of an Iranian vessel in the Strait of Gibraltar on July 4.
Another British-Iranian duel national, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, has been held by Iranian authorities since 2016 accused of spying.
Iran does not recognize dual citizenship and regularly accuses those with foreign ties of espionage.
According to KHRN, Ahmadi last year won the World Peace Foundation’s Literature and Humanities Award at America’s George Washington University for his research.
Ahmady, a social anthropologist who studied at the London School of Economics (LSE), was taken by security forces on August 10, his wife Shafaq Rahmani told the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN).
KHRN said Ahmady’s house and car were search repeatedly and some of his belongings confiscated. Rahmani told BBC Persian they took away some documents and Ahmady’s ID card.
He has reportedly been given a one-month detention order and is being held at the notorious Evin Prison.
The reason for his arrest was not specified and it is not known where he is being held. Neither British nor Iranian officials have confirmed the arrest.
“They have not provided any information about the reason for the arrest or the charges against Kameel,” Rahmani wrote on Instagram.
Ahmady’s research covered topics including female genital mutilation (FGM), child marriage, and ethnic minority rights – all sensitive topics in religiously conservative Iran.
According to KHRN he had been living in the Iranian capital for several years.
The arrest comes at a sensitive time in UK-Iran relations after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) seized a British-flagged vessel in the Strait of Hormuz July 19 in retaliation for the detention of an Iranian vessel in the Strait of Gibraltar on July 4.
Another British-Iranian duel national, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, has been held by Iranian authorities since 2016 accused of spying.
Iran does not recognize dual citizenship and regularly accuses those with foreign ties of espionage.
According to KHRN, Ahmadi last year won the World Peace Foundation’s Literature and Humanities Award at America’s George Washington University for his research.
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