11 Iranians held in U.S. prisons: deputy minister

TEHRAN, Feb. 4 (MNA) – There are currently 11 innocent Iranian nationals in U.S. prisons, an Iranian foreign ministry official has said.

For instance a young Iranian merchant called Mr. Ardabili, whose business is based in Georgia, has been handed over to the U.S. by the Georgian government under the pretext that the U.S. and Georgia have agreed to extradite criminals, Hassan Qashqavi, deputy foreign minister for consular affairs, told the Trend News Agency in an interview published Wednesday.

The man’s business in Georgia was completely legal and his family is concerned about him, he stated.

Qashqavi said that the man’s detention is illegal because the U.S. has not been able to produce any evidence supporting claim that Ardabili was involved in illegal activity.

He also said the Majlis has been following up the issue closely and MPs have asked questions of Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki about the matter.

He also said that defending the rights of the Iranian nationals is one of the priorities of the Foreign Ministry.