There has been very little comment on the re-arrest of Hossein Mousavian, the Iranian former nuclear negotiator, who was initially arrested last May. This time, specific charges have been filed against Mousavian, who was also formerly an Iranian Ambassador to Germany.
The Times of London reported that: “Hossein Mousavian, who was the main nuclear negotiator under President Khatami, is accused of passing classified material to the British Embassy in Tehran. ‘He has been informed of the charges that he has given the British Embassy information contrary to the security of the country’, said Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie, Iran’s Intelligence Minister. ‘From the viewpoint of the Intelligence Ministry, he is a criminal’. Mr Mousavian was first arrested in May and spent ten days in prison on unspecified charges of espionage before being released on bail. Diplomats said that the charges brought against Mr Mousavian were the result of domestic politics … One source said: ‘We’re not treating these allegations with any seriousness’. There is no suggestion that Mr Mousavian is accused of being in cahoots with British intelligence officers. Mr Mousavian left the Government when President Ahmadinejad was elected but remained an ally of the Iranian leader’s most powerful rivals, former presidents Khatami and Rafsanjani. Both have accused Mr Ahmadinejad of endangering the Islamic Republic with his confrontational rhetoric on the nuclear issue…”
The TImes of London report on Mousavian’s re-arrest is here.
While these unnamed (British) diplomats were not treating the allegations “with any seriousness”, it is probably very different for Mr. Mousavian.
Mousavian’s arrest and re-arrest have been viewed as part of an internal Iranian power play — just as the stakes have been raised in Iran’s determined pursuit of its own independent and indigenous uranium-enrichment capability. One observer said that what Mousavian had done was probably no more than normal diplomatic activity (communicating with his various counterparts in other embassies and missions). But, the risk to Mousavian is real.
See UN-Truth’s earlier postings about Mousavian, including Shahram Chubin’s take on Mousavian’s arrest in May, here.
The Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna should be holding an important discussion of the Agency’s latest report on Iran next week — on 22 November.
One thought on “Mousavian rearrested”