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Speaking of Iran

Daughter of Imprisoned Architect Speaks Out After Seven Weeks of Anguish

December 7, 2020
2 min read
Daughter of Imprisoned Architect Speaks Out After Seven Weeks of Anguish

Iranian authorities arrested Nahid Taghavi, a 66-year-old architect and Iranian-German dual national, at her home in Tehran on October 16 this year. In an interview with The Guardian's Simon Wintour, her daughter expressed fears for her mother's health and frustration with the German authorities for the slow progress to date. 


Mariam Claren’s last communication with her 66-year-old mother, Nahid Taghavi, included receiving some maternal advice about wearing a sweater on holiday. Since that conversation, Claren’s life has been thrown into turmoil as she fights to free her mother from Evin prison in Tehran.

The story is, at one level, a familiar one. A German-Iranian dual national is suddenly arrested at her Tehran apartment by police officers on the basis she is a “security threat”. No one is given access to her in Evin prison – no lawyers, German diplomats or family, save one very brief phone call a fortnight later in which she confirms she is alive. The German foreign office says it is doing its best, but points out it has no consular access since she is a dual national, a status not recognised by Iran.

“Germany cannot ignore this human rights abuse and has to intervene,” Claren said in an interview, adding that she wonders at the true priorities of her foreign office. She said she was worried sick, knowing the wearily familiar path trodden by other political prisoners in Iran, which insists they are “security” prisoners.

“I know sometimes they keep people in solitary confinement for two or eight months,” she said. “Yes, all her friends agree one thing about her – that she is strong. But she is 66, and not a young girl. She has high blood pressure and I do not know if she can withstand torture. I am not even sure if she is alive now."

Read the full article, as published by The Guardian.

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