Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2009. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Los Angeles Times - January 19, 2009
Ramin Mostaghim and Borzou Daragahi, daragahi@latimes.com
The official, who was unnamed, said activist brothers Dr. Arash and Dr. Kamiar Alaei are accused of participating in what Iranian authorities say was a $32-million plot to help organize "soft subversion" of the Islamic Republic. Iran frequently accuses the U.S. of using nonprofit organizations and activists with ties to the West as tools to foment regime change.
The official, with Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and Security, mentioned "initiating social crisis," "inciting street protests" and "stirring ethnic feuds and unrests" as objectives of the alleged plot.
"The U.S., using its agents in United Arab Emirates, Baku [Azerbaijan], Turkey, Kuwait and other countries, seeks to implement a velvet revolution and tries to infiltrate the Iranian elites and experts and other social layers," the semiofficial Fars News Agency quoted the intelligence official as saying.
"Those arrested in connection with this case were the main agents and network leaders who have deliberately and intentionally cooperated with U.S. intelligence agents and were doing whatever they wanted," he was quoted as saying.
The Alaeis' lawyer said he expects a verdict in the next few days and a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, which he said he would appeal.
Judiciary branch spokesman Ali-Reza Jamshidi said last week that the two brothers and two other suspects were charged with "communicating with an enemy government" and seeking to undermine the Islamic Republic and had a one-day trial late last month.
In an announcement last year, the State Department noted that the Alaei brothers participated in a November 2006 U.S.-sponsored educational exchange "which focused on public health" and "led to collaboration between American and Iranian medical professionals" on HIV and AIDS treatment and prevention. During the trial, the judge referred to an article in the legal code which states that any Iranian with relations to "hostile states" may be sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Jamshidi said last week that the four suspects would make a court appearance "in the near future."
Human rights organizations say the trial at the politically charged Revolutionary Court was filled with irregularities, including secret evidence that the doctors' attorneys had no chance to refute. The pair's lawyer, Massoud Shafaei, said they pleaded not guilty at the trial, which lasted four hours. "I defended my clients and tried to prove that they were not spies," he said.
The naming of the suspects comes on the eve of the inauguration of Barack Obama as U.S. President. He has said he is open to increasing diplomatic dialogue with Iran. Within Iran's political elite, hard-line and moderate factions debate and maneuver fiercely over the question of whether, how far and when to improve ties with the U.S. and West.
The Alaei brothers gained fame in public health circles for raising awareness about acquired immune deficiency syndrome in Iran. Kamiar Alaei studied at Harvard's School of Public Health. Arash Alaei helped launch a series of clinics in Iran to treat AIDS, a problem in Iran because of an epidemic of intravenous use of cheap Afghan heroin.
The brothers were arrested last June and are believe to be in a ward for political prisoners inside Tehran's Evin Prison. Their cause has been taken up by several international advocacy groups, including the Cambridge, Mass.-based Physicians for Human Rights.
"To all appearances, the arrest and now the trial of these two prominent and widely traveled AIDS doctors seem to be an effort to shut the door on medical and public health collaboration on global health crises," Frank Donaghue, head of the organization said in a statement to media.
Thousands have contacted Iran's mission to the United Nations over the last week, asking for the brothers' release. Both the U.S. and the European Union have condemned the detention.
"In the past, Iran has used similar charges to falsely accuse and detain civil society activists and Iranians working to enhance understanding between our two countries," said the State Department in a statement released last week. "We urge the government of Iran to adhere to international norms by ending its policy of arbitrarily detaining its citizens or using charges of violating national security as a pretext for targeting any Iranian citizen."
Mostaghim is a special correspondent.
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