Iran freed a dual German citizen for participating in negotiations with European powers Political news

Tehran and the E3 countries France, Germany and Great Britain are consulting on Iran’s nuclear program and other issues.

Tehran, Iran – The duo released the German citizen as Iranian diplomats held more consultations with their European counterparts to manage sanctions and rising tensions.

Nahid Taghavi, a German-Iranian human rights activist, has been released from an Iranian prison and returned to Germany, said her daughter Mariam Claren, who posted a photo with her mother on page X on Monday.

Iran’s judiciary and Foreign Ministry did not immediately comment on his release.

A 70-year-old man was arrested in October 2020 in Tehran, the capital of Iran, and sentenced to 10 years in prison for creating a group “with the aim of undermining national security” and “conducting propaganda against the establishment”.

Amnesty International called Tagavi a “prisoner of conscience” and his detention “arbitrary”, saying he had been held in solitary confinement for long periods despite his health and several short medical leaves.

Reacting to the news on Monday, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said it was “a moment of great joy that Nahid Taghawi can finally embrace her family again.”

His release comes in a week full of prisoner incidents involving Iran and the West.

Both Switzerland and France have called Iranian representatives to protest the detention of their citizens. The “suicide” of a Swiss citizen in Semnan prison, about 180 km (112 miles) east of Tehran.

Italian journalist Cecilia Sala was released by Iran last week after spending three weeks in Evin prison in Tehran. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni personally visited the newly elected US President Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida.

The 29-year-old writer and podcaster was arrested for “violating the laws of the Islamic Republic” after entering Iran on a regular journalist visa.

His arrest came three days after Italy detained Iranian national Mohammad Abedi at the behest of the United States, which accused him and another Iranian national of transferring drone technology to Iran.

Washington claims the technology was linked to a drone attack on a US military base in Jordan last year. killed three American soldiers.

Abedini arrived in Tehran on Sunday, and officials confirmed that his case was not directly related to the arrest or release of the Italian journalist.

In mid-December, Iran punished Iranian-American journalist Reza Valizadeh 10 years in prison for “collaborating with the enemy US government”.

Negotiations in Geneva

Meanwhile, Iran and Europe’s three major powers, Germany, France and Great Britain, began more diplomatic talks on Monday afternoon in Geneva, Switzerland.

Esmail Baghaei, the spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran, told reporters in the morning that the main focus of Tehran is the removal of sanctions.

According to him, the meetings cannot be described as “negotiations” and are rather a continuation of the “consultations” held in December. Bagai added that a “broad spectrum” of topics will be discussed in Geneva, including the nuclear issue.

The first Trump administration imposed wide-ranging sanctions on the Iranian economy after Iran unilaterally withdrew from the nuclear deal with world powers, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2018.

In addition to the West accusing Iran of arming Russia, the European Union also imposed waves of sanctions against Iran against the background of the war in Ukraine. Tehran denies being a supplier of weapons of war and says Russia sent drones months before it invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Iran’s bilateral relations with Germany are also deteriorating, with Taghavi’s release months after the death of another imprisoned German-Iranian dual citizen sparking a diplomatic row between Berlin and Tehran.

In late October, Baerbock ordered the closure of three Iranian consulates in Germany after Iranian state media reported the death of German-Iranian prisoner Jamshid Sharmahd, who was sentenced to death in 2023 for “terrorism”. .