Iran releases Austrian citizen jailed for unspecified crime – report
Imprisoned in 2022, Christian Weber was handed over to his country’s ambassador in Tehran, according to the Islamic Republic’s Mizan news agency
DUBAI – Iranian authorities have released Austrian citizen Christian Weber, detained for crimes committed in Iran’s West Azerbaijan Province, to Austria’s ambassador in Tehran, the Iranian judiciary’s Mizan news agency reported on Tuesday.
Austria had said in 2022 one of its citizens was arrested in Iran for charges not related to protests that broke out in the country after the death of Mahsa Amini, a Kurdish Iranian woman, in custody.
The news agency said the Austrian citizen was freed in consideration of Islamic mercy. He was handed over to his country’s ambassador to arrange his exit, the agency said.
Mizan did not specify the crime for which Weber was jailed.
Calls to the Austrian embassy before regular office hours went unanswered. However, the Tehran-based WANA news agency reported that Austria’s ambassador to Iran, Wolf Dietrich Heim, had met with an official representative of the country’s judiciary.
During the meeting, he reportedly “expressed his and the Austrian government’s gratitude” for the release, as well as the Weber family’s appreciation of “the humane and favorable treatment” he received while in prison.
Christian Weber an den österreichischen Botschafter in Teheran übergeben https://t.co/h8ii62QpHR
— oe24.at (@oe24at) September 17, 2024
The death of 22-year-old Amini in September 2022 while in custody for allegedly flouting Iran’s Islamic dress code unleashed months of protests in the biggest challenge to the Islamic Republic’s clerical leaders in decades.
Weber’s release came a day after Iran marked the second anniversary of Amini’s death.
Several other Europeans are still being held in Iran, including at least three French citizens.
