Baku, Azerbaijan, April 26
By Umid Niayesh – Trend:
Some Iranian media have confirmed arrest of Abbas Edalat, a British-Iranian academic, citing their sources.
Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency quoted an “informed source” as saying that Edalat was a member of a network affiliated with the anti-government wings.
“Recently, members of a British-backed infiltration network have been arrested,” the source said, adding that the network was in contact with certain anti-government politicians.
The source said Edalat is a member of a network that was in ties with main figures of “sedition” and “deviation”.
The right-wing in Iran started the particular use of the word "sedition" to denote reformist moves in the aftermath of the 2009 presidential election, when public riots demanded a redoing of the election, claiming election rigging.
Iran’s state-run media also refer to ex-president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's loyalists as a "deviation” circle.
According to a US-based watchdog, Abbas Edalat, a professor of computer science and mathematics at Imperial College London and a political activist, was arrested by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards on April 15.
On April 25, UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office said it was “urgently seeking information from the Iranian authorities” about Edalat’s status, but could offer no further details.
Edalat is the founder of the Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran, which describes itself as an organization that opposes “sanctions, foreign state interference and military intervention in Iran”.