Illegal US detention of Iranian scientist

The US in its so-called human rights reports has frequently criticized judicial convictions in Iran without presenting any substantial proof or well-founded evidence. It has even passed multiple bills at world bodies through deception and exerting influence.

This is while, there are a great number of innocent people, illegally imprisoned in the US with no charges or trial, and without their names being mentioned in the media or international communities.

One of these inhumane measures of the United States of America is detention in the U.S. of an Iranian scientist named Dr Masoud Soleimani – one of the country's renowned academics and internationally recognized figures.

But what is the US' excuse for his detention?

The Iranian professor and internationally acclaimed hematology researcher who was travelling to the US on a valid visa, was detained by FBI agents upon arrival at Chicago airport on 25^th October last year.

More than a year since his detention, Dr. Soleimani is languishing in the U.S. city of Atlanta, serving his illegal sentence. He has been imprisoned with dangerous criminals, and without informing him of the charges levelled against him  by the US Attorney General.

Despite official follow-ups and attempts of the Iranian government for information of his condition, as well as his family and lawyer’s investigation regarding the exact reason of his detention or the time of his court hearing, the US officials are yet to explain the issue, claiming that Soleimani was trying to bypass sanctions.

The Associated press news agency in an article regarding Soleimani's detention wrote:

"When a respected Iranian scientist left Tehran for the U.S. last fall, he had plans to complete the final stage of his research on treating stroke patients as a visiting scholar at the prestigious Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. But, when Professor Masoud Soleimani touched down on U.S. soil, federal authorities arrested him on charges that he had violated trade sanctions by trying to have biological material brought to Iran."

Masoud Soleimani is a fulltime professor at Iran's Tarbiyat-e Modarres University (TMU) and one of the renowned researchers in the field of stem cells. He is also one of the world's acclaimed scientists and a member of Europe's Stem Cells Association.

Yaqoub Fathollahi, TMU’s Vice-chancellor for Research Affairs regarding Soleimani's scientific work said: “It is been a long time that Prof. Masoud soleimani is researching in the field of stem cells and hematology.

Last year, he was invited by the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, as one of the world's famous centers in this field, for leading a research program, but was secretly indicted by the FBI. Now after more than a year since his detention and against all academic protocols, there has been no official report on the reason of his detention from the U.S. government and they only accuse him of bypassing sanctions."

According to the website, Scopus wrote: Professor Soleimani has so far published 12 books and 580 academic articles, part of them have been internationally published and documented. In 2015, Soleimani was recognized as one of the world's Top 100 scientists.

Prof. Soleimani has also conducted several studies on stem cells, bone marrow, and the umbilical cord for which he has had numerous trips to the U.S. for research and coordination with American scientists.

President of Iran’s Tarbiyat-e Modarres University, Mohammad Taqi Ahmadi, says: “According to the International law, the U.S. cannot and is not allowed to detain the Iranian scientist for his purchasing of medical supplies. The US claim that Prof. Soleimani trying to bypass the US sanctions against Iran is totally unreal and baseless.”

Also according to Prof. Soleimani’s lawyer, Leonard Franco, the field which he is not banned in the US or in Iran, and was being used “exclusively for medical research”, which is still largely exempt from US sanctions. He believes that there are political objectives behind this accusation.

Prof. Masoud Soleimani, however, is not the first Iranian who has been detained under the baseless allegation of bypassing sanctions by the U.S. government.

Another Iranian citizen arrested earlier by the FBI is Negar Qodsi Kani who was prosecuted under the false allegation of bypassing sanctions. She was forced to stay behind bars for several years.

In January 2017, Qodsi Kani who was living in Australia at that time, was sentenced to 3 years behind bars, based on false accusation of violating U.S. sanctions against the Islamic Republic. However, after two years when it became evident that the accusations against her are all illegal and baseless, the U.S. court issued a 2 year imprisonment order to cover up the wrongful conviction of an innocent individual.  

Since his imprisonment, Prof. Masoud Soleimani has no connection with the outside world and is only allowed to have a phone call with his family after paying the charges.

So far, there are a lot of letters sent to the United Nations, International Committee of the Red Cross and Europe's Stem Cells Association in protest to Soleimani’s illegal imprisonment

His students have also demanded his release via a letter to the UN signed by 2600 electronic signatures.

In an interview with media, Soleimani’s brother Rasoul has said: "Unfortunately, they did not transfer my brother to a normal prison and he is kept in a detention center in which people with social anomalies are imprisoned. My brother is suffering irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and the disease has relapsed after his detention.”

The United States of America claims to be a flag-bearer of Human Rights, but it is not, and based on this false assumption, it meddles in the internal affairs of other countries.  

However, the U.S. human rights records including the case of the illegally detained internationally acclaimed Iranian scientist, Professor Masoud Soleimani, is a reflection of this reality that the U.S. officials’ view towards human rights is totally biased and politically-motivated.

The U.S. government interferes in domestic affairs of other countries and makes judgments about their human rights situation while it is the greatest violator of human rights.

The worrying condition of the Iranian Scientist imprisoned in the United States based on false, unacceptable accusations is the repetition of this scenario and is truly a bitter joke on the U.S. human rights claims.

MG/AS/ME