The Stuttgart-based German aid organization STELP announced that Serkan Eren, its founder and a Turkish national who had traveled to Iran on a humanitarian mission, was scheduled to leave the country on June 28. However, he did not exit Iran, and all contact with him has been lost.
In a statement issued on July 10, STELP urged the public to refrain from speculation and unauthorized actions in order to protect Serkan’s safety and ensure peace of mind for his family and loved ones.
In June, Eren had traveled from Stuttgart to Tehran to deliver financial aid.
In an interview with the German media outlet SWR, he said that to avoid being mistaken for an “agent or saboteur,” he had left his bulletproof vest, helmet, and satellite phone in Germany and traveled to Iran with only a backpack and no protective equipment.
SWR had previously reported on his trip to Iran, describing the conditions Serkan Eren experienced after arriving and how he helped local people.
Since the outbreak of the war with Israel, Iran’s regime has launched a widespread wave of arrests targeting citizens, including foreign nationals, on charges such as “collaboration with Israel.”
In one such case, Abbas Araghchi, the foreign minister of Iran’s regime, confirmed in a July 10 interview with the French newspaper Le Monde that Lennart Monterlos, an 18-year-old French-German tourist, had been arrested in Iran.
Iranian Regime Confirms Arrest of French-German Tourist Lennart Monterlos
Regarding the young French citizen who has had no contact with his family since June 16, Araghchi said: “This cyclist was arrested for committing a crime, and a notice regarding this matter has been sent to the French embassy.”
Over the past decades, Iran’s regime’s security and judicial apparatus have repeatedly detained and imprisoned foreign nationals and dual citizens arbitrarily.
France and other European Union member states have described these arrests as politically motivated and part of the Iranian regime’s “hostage diplomacy.”
Human rights activists also consider the arrest of Western nationals by the Iranian regime to be a form of state-sponsored hostage-taking, saying that Tehran uses this tactic to pressure the West and extract concessions.
