U.S. legal permanent resident Shahab Dalili is safe back with his family after being detained in Iran while visiting for his father’s funeral, Hostage Aid Worldwide says.
“Dalili came home after a long trip from Evin to Yerevan to DC,” the advocacy group said, calling his detention wrongful and celebrating his return after years in Evin Prison in Iran.
“WELCOME HOME SHAHAB!” tweeted Hostage Aid Worldwide. The group also asked the supporters to help Dalili return to his family peacefully.
When his father died, Dalili had just retired from a career as a ship captain and traveled to Iran in 2016, the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation says.
He was picked up by agents for Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence in a taxi as he was heading to the airport to fly home to Virginia, the foundation said.
His family did not know his whereabouts for several days, the foundation said. Later they learned that he was arrested and charged with aiding a hostile government, in this case, the United States.
The foundation said Dalili was sentenced to 10 years in prison and was held at Evin Prison.
His return closes a case that hostage advocates had repeatedly raised as part of broader concerns over U.S.-linked residents detained in Iran and ends a long separation from his family.
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