Europeans still detained in Iran

Human rights groups say those still in detention are being held by Iran as bargaining chips in negotiations with foreign governments.

Here are the known prisoners:

British-Iranian labor rights activist Mehran Raoof was arrested in October 2020 on national security charges and sentenced to 10 years and eight months in prison, according to Amnesty International.

He was held for months in solitary confinement in Tehran's notorious Evin prison, where he managed to smuggle out a letter last year complaining about poor treatment of dual nationals, Amnesty said.

German-Iranian Nahid Taghavi, in her late sixties, was sentenced to 10 years and eight months in prison in August 2021 for “anti-regime propaganda” and “membership in an illegal group”. She was arrested in her apartment in Tehran in October 2020 and is also detained in Evin Prison.

Jamshid Sharmahd, a German citizen of Iranian origin, was captured by Iranian authorities in August 2020 while crossing the United Arab Emirates, according to his family.

He was sentenced to death in February 2023 after being charged with terrorism for the 2008 mosque bombing that killed 14 people. His family has rejected the accusations, but fears he could be executed any day.

Cécile Kohler, head of the French teachers' union, and her partner, Jacques Paris, were arrested in May 2022 while visiting Iran. They are accused of espionage.

Another French citizen, identified only by his first name, Olivier, has been in detention since October 2022. French authorities have not released details of his case.

An Austrian national, who was not named, was sentenced last year to seven and a half years in prison in Iran for espionage, Vienna says.

Iranian academic Ahmadreza Djalali, a resident of Sweden, was arrested during a visit to Iran in April 2016 and sentenced to death in 2017 for spying for the Israeli Mossad.

He obtained Swedish citizenship while in prison. His hanging has been postponed but his family says he remains on death row.

The Swedish Foreign Ministry also confirmed that Iran was holding another Swede in his 20s arrested in January.

Swedish media, however, report that this man is the subject of an international arrest warrant in connection with a deadly shooting in Sweden.

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