Imperial academic believed to have been detained in Iran
Dr Kaveh Madani, a Reader at the Imperial Centre for Environmental Policy, is believed to have been detained for 72 hours last weekend.
An Imperial academic is believed to have been detailed in Iran for 72 hours last weekend.
Dr Kaveh Madani, a Reader at the Centre for Environmental Policy, was made Deputy Head of Iran’s Department of Environment last year. There was confusion over his whereabouts throughout last weekend, following the death of Iranian-Canadian environmentalist and academic Professor Kavous Seyed Emami in police custody.
On Sunday, Iranian MP Mahmous Sadeghi posted on Twitter that Dr Madani had been one of a number of environmentalists detailed over the weekend, who were being held by intelligence agents associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. Dr Madani’s social media accounts were also suspended. On Monday, Dr Madani’s Twitter account was restored, and he posted a tweet that asked for “an end to narrow-mindedness”. While some took this to mean he had been released, other sources say Dr Madani is still under surveillance.
Professor Emami’s death was ruled as a suicide by the Iranian government, but highlights increasing tensions between the Iranian government and environmentalists, who are often dual-nationals.
The UN this week asked the Iranian government to allow environmental activists to work without being targeted. UN Environment head, Erik Solheim, issued a statement saying “Environmental rights are human rights, and we all have an obligation to protect them. We are closely following these cases in Iran, and urge that the work of environment defenders – both in Iran and around the world – be promoted and respected.”
