Iran Government Says No Evidence Against Detained Environmentalists

Iran's environment chief said Tuesday that a government committee had concluded there was no evidence against wildlife activists rounded up on spying charges in recent months. 

Isa Kalantari, head of the government's department of environment, told state news agency IRNA that the conclusion had been reached by a special four-man committee, including the ministers of justice, interior and intelligence, and the president's legal deputy. 

"This four-member group has come to the conclusion that these detained individuals are in custody without having done anything and naturally they must be freed soon," Kalantari said.

Iran has multiple, overlapping intelligence agencies—the most prominent are linked to the government, judiciary and Revolutionary Guards—that often act independently of each other, so the committee's assessment may have no effect.

The government's intelligence ministry has previously stated there was no evidence against the arrested environmentalists. 

"There is no document indicating the truth of the accusations leveled against these detained individuals," Kalantari said.

Little detail has been given about the detentions, which began with the arrest of eight members of the Persian Wildlife Heritage Organisation in January.

But the cases drew international attention after the renowned head of the organization, 63-year-old Kavous Seyed Emami, allegedly committed suicide in prison a fortnight after his arrest. 

Kalantari's deputy at the department of environment, Kaveh Madani, was also forced to flee the country last month after pressure from hardliners about his private life. 

There have been reports of several more environmentalists arrested in the south of the country, although only three have been officially confirmed—members of the Association for the Protection of Nature in Lavardin. 

Iran faces severe environmental challenges, particularly linked to a prolonged drought and extreme air pollution. 

Photo Credit: 

Iran Lawmakers Slam Crackdown on Environmentalists

An Iranian lawmaker on Tuesday criticized a recent crackdown on environmental activists and officials, saying it risked "bad consequences for the country", the semi-official ISNA news agency reported.

Parliament's environmental and transparency committees held a closed-door session in which they discussed the arrest on espionage charges of several NGO workers earlier this year. One detainee later died in custody. 

"Some... have accused these individuals of spying, but the expert views of the Intelligence Ministry are almost exactly contrary to them," said Mohammad Reza Tabesh, head of parliament's environment committee, according to ISNA. 

He was relaying information provided by the head of the government's Environment Protection Agency (EPA), Isa Kalantari.

Iran has multiple and competing intelligence agencies. One is under the moderate government of President Hassan Rouhani and another under the Revolutionary Guards, who have opposed his efforts to rebuild ties with the West.

The lawmakers discussed Kaveh Madani, a young water expert who took leave from his post at London's Imperial College last year to become deputy head of the EPA. 

It was revealed on Monday that Madani, who had faced weeks of pressure from hardline opponents of the government, had abruptly resigned while traveling outside the country. 

Kalantari told the lawmakers that Madani had wished to carry on his work "despite the pressures exerted," according to the account given by Tabesh. "But he resigned because his parents were not happy." 

Madani released a cryptic message on Twitter on Tuesday. "Yes, the accused has escaped from a land in which online ignorance has rejected science, knowledge and expertise," he wrote.

"They have realized that finding a guilty person, enemy and spy is much easier than accountability and participation in resolving problems." Madani's appointment had been seen as a test of Rouhani's efforts to attract expat Iranians back home.

But Madani he was briefly detained in February in mysterious circumstances, then vilified by hardliners after photos were released purporting to show him dancing and drinking on holiday. 

Among the environmentalists arrested in recent months were seven members of the Persian Wildlife Heritage Organisation. 

Its head, renowned environmentalist Kaveh Seyed Emami, died in Tehran's Evin prison in February after being accused of spying for the United States and Israel. 

Iranian authorities said he committed suicide in his cell, but this has been disputed by the family.

Iran is suffering from a range of extreme environmental problems, including world-beating levels of air pollution and years of drought that have devastated swathes of its agricultural land.

Photo Credit: Mehr

Iran Environmentalist, Symbol of Expat Return, Quits

A top Iranian environment official, who symbolized government efforts to encourage expat Iranians to return home, has quit just seven months into his job, sources said Monday.

The resignation of Kaveh Madani, who was a young professor at London's Imperial College before returning to Iran in September 2017, followed reports of mounting conservative pressure against him.

The government of President Hassan Rouhani, which has called on Iranians abroad to come home and help develop the country, appointed the water conservation expert as deputy head of the country's environment department.

But in recent weeks, conservative outlets published photos purporting to show him drinking and dancing on holiday. Hardliners called him "debauched" and demanded he be sacked.

Shortly after arriving in Iran last year, Madani had told the English-language Tehran Times that many Iranians abroad were "waiting and watching closely to see what's going to happen". 

"If I succeed, we might see more people coming back to help the government," he said. But on Monday a colleague of Madani confirmed reports that he had resigned while out of the country. 

In February, Madani was briefly detained by one of Iran's security agencies amid a crackdown on environmentalists that saw several activists arrested on espionage charges. 

One, Kavous Seyed Emami, died in Tehran's Evin prison after being accused of spying for the United States and Israel. Iranian authorities said he had committed suicide in his cell, but this has been disputed by the family.

Madani studied in Tabriz in northern Iran before getting his PhD in civil and environmental engineering from the University of California, according to Imperial College's website. 

"I'm the representative of a generation who left the country and the whole country is complaining about losing this generation and brain drain," he told the Tehran Times in December.

He also tweeted at the time: "I have returned with the hope of creating
#hope". After hearing of Madani's resignation, reformist lawmaker Mahmoud Sadeghi criticised authorities for the message he said they were sending to "elite Iranians living abroad". 

The water expert's departure comes as Iran suffers from years of drought, which has devastated its agriculture. 

There have been reports of persistant protests by farmers in Isfahan in recent weeks, which have been denounced by conservatives including the city's Friday prayers leader. 

Photo Credit: Kaveh Madani Twitter

Three More Iranian Environmentalists Arrested: Website

Three environmentalists have been detained in Iran, a conservative-linked news website reported late Friday, the latest in a series of arrests of wildlife campaigners in the Islamic republic.

"Members of the Association for the Protection of Nature in Lavardin were arrested by a security agency. The allegations against them are unknown," Tabnak reported.

It said they were arrested in Bandar Lengheh in the southern Hormuzgan province on the Gulf coast.

It follows the arrest of eight members of the Persian Heritage Wildlife Association, Iran's most prominent nature NGO, in January on espionage charges.

Its founder Kavous Seyed Emami, 63, died in prison around two weeks later. Officials say he committed suicide in his cell, but the family have questioned the verdict and say they were threatened by officials.

The deputy head of the government's Environment Protection Organisation,
renowned water campaigner Kaveh Madani, was also detained briefly this month.

Photo Credit: Wikicommons