Iran’s Revolutionary Guards arrest more dual nationals

LONDON: Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have arrested at least 30 dual nationals during the past two years, mostly on spying charges, according to lawyers, diplomats and relatives, twice as many as earlier reported by local or international media.

The number marks a sharp rise since 2015, when an international nuclear deal raised hopes of detente with the West. In the years before that the number of dual nationals detained at any given time was in single figures.

It also points up a new trend as a majority of those arrested since then, 19 out of the 30, have citizenship in Europe. Previously most of the detainees were Iranian Americans.

Detainees’ relatives and lawyers said the Guards were using them as bargaining chips in international relations and to put off European firms that sought business in Iran after the government agreed the deal with world powers to lift sanctions.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has vast business interests as well as being Iran’s most powerful security force and has criticised the government for handing contracts to foreigners.

The Guards did not respond to several requests for comment. The Iranian government referred Reuters to the judiciary, which also did not respond to repeated approaches. Iranian authorities have previously denied holding detainees for ransom and accuse Western governments of holding Iranians on trumped-up charges.

Relatives of dual nationals detained in Iran, their lawyers and Western diplomats shared information such as name, date of arrest and any charges, on condition neither they nor the detainees were identified, citing fear of repercussions.

Iran does not routinely announce arrests or charges and does not recognise dual nationals, whose rights to consular assistance are enshrined in the UN Vienna Convention. In all cases, the sources said the detainees had not carried out any espionage and were arrested only because of their second citizenship.

They explained their willingness to share details by saying they had been kept in the dark by both the Iranian authorities and Western governments. Several governments argue that maintaining a low profile is in the best interests of the detainees. "This is very much what guides our approach," a UK government source said.

Dutch Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Daphne Kerremans said identifying detainees "could get the prisoners into trouble". Some relatives only break their silence once their initial hopes have been dashed. The wife of Ahmadreza Djalali, a Swedish-based Iranian scientist arrested in 2016 after attending a conference in Tehran, decided to speak out in February.