UK-Iranian Academic Says he Escaped Iran While on Bail

UK-Iranian Academic Says he Escaped Iran While on Bail
TT

UK-Iranian Academic Says he Escaped Iran While on Bail

UK-Iranian Academic Says he Escaped Iran While on Bail

A British-Iranian academic said Wednesday that he had fled Iran across a mountain border after being sentenced to nine years in jail for collaborating with a hostile government.

Kameel Ahmady, a social anthropologist studying female genital mutilation and child marriage in Iran, told the BBC and The Guardian newspaper that he escaped while on bail after being sentenced, as he feared he would not see his young son again.

"I just simply left. I packed my bag with shaving kit, a few books of mine and a laptop and I think pyjamas... and warm clothes," he told BBC radio.

After being detained for suspected links with foreign intelligence services, he spent three months in Tehran's notorious Evin prison, where he said he was subjected to "so-called white torture, a psychological pressure they put on you."

He was then released on bail and later sentenced in December last year and fined 600,000 euros (£529,000, $722,000) for receiving "illegitimate funds" and working on projects with "subversive institutions", Iran's Tasnim news agency reported.

British media reported that he escaped while on bail pending his appeal.

He described the journey to the BBC as "very cold, very long, very dark and very scary".

Ahmady is now living in London with his wife and son, British media reported, and his appeal was thrown out in his absence on Monday.

He told The Guardian he did not know whether Iranian authorities were aware of his escape.

He said he took the paths used by smugglers of goods from Iraq and Turkey, wading through deep snow and evading Iranian border patrols.

Ahmady told the BBC that as a dual-national and "a researcher who was digging up sensitive issues," he was aware he faced being detained.

"I always knew that I am an attractive and potential asset," AFP quoted him as saying. "But that doesn't mean that I have done anything wrong."



Iran Says Fire Contained after Deadly Blast at Key Port

A handout photo made available by the Iranian Red Crescent Society official channel shows a helicopter spraying water at the Rajaie port in the city of Bandar Abbas, southern Iran, 27 April 2025 (issued 28 April 2025). (EPA/ Iranian Red Crescent Society/ Handout)
A handout photo made available by the Iranian Red Crescent Society official channel shows a helicopter spraying water at the Rajaie port in the city of Bandar Abbas, southern Iran, 27 April 2025 (issued 28 April 2025). (EPA/ Iranian Red Crescent Society/ Handout)
TT

Iran Says Fire Contained after Deadly Blast at Key Port

A handout photo made available by the Iranian Red Crescent Society official channel shows a helicopter spraying water at the Rajaie port in the city of Bandar Abbas, southern Iran, 27 April 2025 (issued 28 April 2025). (EPA/ Iranian Red Crescent Society/ Handout)
A handout photo made available by the Iranian Red Crescent Society official channel shows a helicopter spraying water at the Rajaie port in the city of Bandar Abbas, southern Iran, 27 April 2025 (issued 28 April 2025). (EPA/ Iranian Red Crescent Society/ Handout)

Firefighters have brought under control a blaze at Iran's main port, following a deadly explosion blamed on negligence, authorities said.

The explosion, heard dozens of kilometers (miles) away, hit a dock at the southern port of Shahid Rajaee on Saturday.

At least 70 people were killed and more than 1,000 others suffered injuries in the blast and ensuing fire, which also caused extensive damage, state media reported.

Red Crescent official Mokhtar Salahshour told the channel late Monday that the fire had been "contained" and a clean-up was under way.

State television aired live footage on Tuesday showing thick smoke rising from stacked containers.

Iran's ILNA news agency quoted Hossein Zafari, spokesman for the country's crisis management organization, as saying the situation had improved significantly since Monday.

However, "the operation and complete extinguishing process may take around 15 to 20 days", the agency reported.

Iran's customs authority said port operations had returned to normal, according to the IRNA news agency.

The port of Shahid Rajaee lies near the major coastal city of Bandar Abbas on the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway through which one-fifth of global oil output passes.

Hormozgan provincial governor Mohammad Ashouri ruled out sabotage.

"The set of hypotheses and investigations carried out during the process indicated that the sabotage theory lacks basis or relevance," he told state television late Monday.

The port´s customs office said the blast may have started in a depot storing hazardous and chemical materials.

Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni said there were "shortcomings, including noncompliance with safety precautions and negligence".

A committee assigned to investigate the blast cited similar factors as the likely cause.