Iran says detained philosopher has ties to “foreigners”

Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, May 06 – Iran’s Intelligence Minister announced on Saturday that a dissident philosopher, who was recently arrested, was being held on charges of “links to foreigners”. Iran Focus

Tehran, Iran, May 06 – Iran’s Intelligence Minister announced on Saturday that a dissident philosopher, who was recently arrested, was being held on charges of “links to foreigners”.

Judiciary officials announced on Wednesday that Ramin Jahanbegloo, who is a dual-citizen of Iran and Canada, was being held in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison.

Iran’s Minister of Intelligence and Security, Hojjatoleslam Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ezhei, confirmed the arrest and said, “Jahanbegloo is accused of having links to foreigners”. His comments were reported by the state-run news agency ISNA.

“Currently, Jahanbegloo has been handed over to the Intelligence Ministry for further investigation about the charges he faces on his relations with foreigners”, Ezhei said.

Jahanbegloo was educated at Sorbonne University in Paris and Harvard University in the United States. He heads the Department for Contemporary Studies at the Cultural Research Bureau in Tehran.

He was arrested in Tehran nearly two weeks ago after returning from a trip to India. Canadian officials in Tehran have since been trying to secure his freedom.