Iran releases American-Iranian activist
Wednesday, 26 September 2007
TEHRAN, Sept 25 (AP): Iran has released from jail peace activist Ali Shakeri, the last of four Iranian-Americans imprisoned in recent months after being accused of stirring up a revolution, a judiciary spokesman said Tuesday.
Shakeri, a businessman and member of a California-based democracy group, the Centre for Citizen Peacebuilding, was arrested while trying to leave Iran after visiting family. He was jailed four months ago in Tehran's Evin prison.
He and three other Iranian-Americans were charged with endangering national security - an accusation they, their families and their employers denied.
"He was released based on 1 million rials (about $110,000) bail last night. Shakeri is able to travel abroad if a ... judge permits him," Mohammad Shadabi, a spokesman for the judiciary, told The Associated Press.
The charges against Shakeri have increased tensions between the US and Iran, already high over US accusations that Iran is seeking to develop nuclear weapons and is fueling violence in Iraq. Iran denies both claims.
But in recent weeks, the country has reversed itself on the cases against the four dual citizens. Tuesday's announcement came as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is in New York to attend the UN General Assembly.
Shakeri's release comes less than a week after Iran released Kian Tajbakhash, an urban planning consultant with the New York-based Soros Foundation's Open Society Institute, from Evin prison where he had been jailed for four months.
In August, Iranian-American academic Haleh Esfandiari, who is the director of the Washington-based Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars, was also released from the Evin prison. She has since returned to the US
Iran also this month allowed another Iranian-American, journalist Parnaz Azima, to leave the country after being stuck since authorities confiscated her passport in January. Authorities never imprisoned Azima but prevented her from leaving.
Shakeri, a businessman and member of a California-based democracy group, the Centre for Citizen Peacebuilding, was arrested while trying to leave Iran after visiting family. He was jailed four months ago in Tehran's Evin prison.
He and three other Iranian-Americans were charged with endangering national security - an accusation they, their families and their employers denied.
"He was released based on 1 million rials (about $110,000) bail last night. Shakeri is able to travel abroad if a ... judge permits him," Mohammad Shadabi, a spokesman for the judiciary, told The Associated Press.
The charges against Shakeri have increased tensions between the US and Iran, already high over US accusations that Iran is seeking to develop nuclear weapons and is fueling violence in Iraq. Iran denies both claims.
But in recent weeks, the country has reversed itself on the cases against the four dual citizens. Tuesday's announcement came as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is in New York to attend the UN General Assembly.
Shakeri's release comes less than a week after Iran released Kian Tajbakhash, an urban planning consultant with the New York-based Soros Foundation's Open Society Institute, from Evin prison where he had been jailed for four months.
In August, Iranian-American academic Haleh Esfandiari, who is the director of the Washington-based Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars, was also released from the Evin prison. She has since returned to the US
Iran also this month allowed another Iranian-American, journalist Parnaz Azima, to leave the country after being stuck since authorities confiscated her passport in January. Authorities never imprisoned Azima but prevented her from leaving.