Iran releases jailed UK resident Aras Amiri on furlough
Tehran furloughs an imprisoned woman who had been working for Britain’s cultural outreach agency as Iran's official coronavirus death toll reaches 4,110.
Amid fears that the coronavirus could be running rampant throughout Iran’s jails, another UK resident has been released temporarily from the country’s most notorious prison.
“Aras Amiri who has been unjustly imprisoned in Iran's Evin Prison since 2018 ... has been temporarily released on furlough," Amnesty International UK board director Daren Nair tweeted today. "The Iranian authorities must let her come home to London to be with her fiance."
Before Amiri’s arrest, the 33-year-old had been working for Britain’s cultural outreach agency fostering artistic exchanges between the UK and Iran. In March 2018, the London-based Iranian citizen traveled to her home country to visit with her ailing grandmother and was arrested seven days later for alleged spying.
Iran's judiciary claimed Amiri had confessed to working with British intelligence. But in an appeal letter to Iran’s chief justice, Amiri said she had been jailed for refusing to go along with Iranian intelligence forces who asked her to spy for them.
