Situation around Khalida Khalid Arrested in Iran Remains Unclear

Iranian authorities have accused the employee of the Institute of Literature of the Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan Khalida Khalid, who was arrested in Tabriz on April 30, of espionage. This was announced by Iran's state TV (IRIB).

According to the same source, Khalid was arrested for incitement to racism and espionage.

Khalid was arrested along with his driver Shamkhal Huseynov and 4 other activists for the rights of Iranian Azerbaijanis. They were arrested by the secret service ETTELAAT in the house of the writer Ohtay Reshid.

According to the Institute of Literature, the driver Huseynov was later released. The Consulate General of Azerbaijan in Tabriz, Iran submitted a note on the fate of the citizens of Azerbaijan, to which the formal structures of Iran have not yet responded.

The Iranian Embassy in Baku refused to comment, saying that Iran's position is set out in the agency ISNA report on May 4. The representative of Iran's Foreign Ministry said that the Azerbaijani citizens were arrested "for the establishment of illegal connections."

The press service of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry declined to comment on the recent statements of the Iranian side, noting that "the situation is studied in order to clarify."

However, the Foreign Ministry said that the reports about the accusation of Khalid of espionage are not official and come from unofficial sources. -16B06-