TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s judiciary acknowledged Sunday that it has granted medical leave to an ailing 81-year-old Iranian-American convicted of espionage charges, one of a number of dual nationals swept up in detentions criticized by the United Nations. “Like many prisoners who can go on leave, he went on a three-day leave,” spokesman Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejehi said in comments aired on state television. Jared Genser, a Washington-based lawyer for the Namazis, had been urging that the elder Namazi’s release be extended. The Namazis are among a number of dual nationals detained since Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers. A U.N. panel in September described “an emerging pattern involving the arbitrary deprivation of liberty of dual nationals” in Iran, which Tehran denies.

Source: National Post February 04, 2018 12:51 UTC