Updates on the future of Karan Vafadari and his wife Afarin Neyssari have been infrequent and grim, but a recent letter written by Karan outlines the present situation. The couple are well-known art dealers and own a gallery in Tehran (notable for being the first privately-owned contemporary art space), and although Neyssari has permanent resident status in the US, their combined dual national status is a notoriously recognized basis for unjust targeting by Iran’s authorities. The Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) often tracks individuals like Vafadari and Neyssari, and they made it onto their watchlist back in March of last year.
As for now, it appears that Vafadari was sentenced to 27 years in prison and 124 lashes, in addition to a fine, while Neyssari was sentenced to 16 years and 74 lashes. The numbers here, as is often the case, are utter nonsense, similar to their histrionic bail being set; “Judge of Death” Abolqasem Salavati, when his preposterous bail for Neyssari (approx. $13.5 million) had been surprisingly met by her family, denied it and retorted: “If I wanted her free, I wouldn’t have set [the bail] so high.”
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the courts often function in tandem, and there is definitely more than justice being sought in this case, as per usual. Earlier in February, Vafadari’s son Cyrus communicated with CHRI that, in addition to the punishment and imprisonment, the courts will be confiscating the couple’s assets.
In other words, the courts stand to greatly profit from these charges in a manner which amounts to theft. Additionally, these charges instill fear in a religious community which has received much unjust treatment in the country. CHRI reports: “Vafadari belongs to a prominent Zoroastrian family known in Tehran for their endowment to the city’s Firoozgar Hospital. Recognized in the Constitution, followers of the ancient, pre-islamic Zoroastrian faith have lived in Iran for thousands of years but are subject to discrimination.”
Greater detail of the couple’s unjust treatment can be gleaned from a letter Vafadari wrote late last month, including the particulars which led to his initial arrest—he was attempting to legally regain his family’s previously confiscated assets. Of course, accusations made against him include “collusion in plots against national security” and “having 124 ‘inappropriate’ CDs,” the typical spate of trumped-up charges which accompany marked business-people like Vafadari and Neyssari (it should be noted, however, that Neyssari’s specific charges have yet to even be publicized).
Vafadari’s letter also describes the momentous implementation of Article 989 of Iran’s Civil Penal Code in his conviction, an archaic utility for legally sanctioned theft of property which may prove to be a new tool used in the targeted, unjust prosecution of dual nationals.
For now, the couple is serving their sentence in Evin Prison. There is an online petition for their release which can be signed here.
