British-Iranian man in solitary confinement in notorious Iran prison ‘after discussing politics in a coffee shop’

Mehran Raoof was arrested in Tehran in October

A British-Iranian man has been held in solitary confinement for five months in a notorious Iranian prison after he was secretly recorded discussing politics in a coffee shop, campaigners claimed this week.

Mehran Raoof, 64, a campaigner for workers’ rights, was arrested at his home in Tehran by Iranian Revolutionary Guards in October and taken to Evin prison, where other dual nationals and political prisoners are held, amid allegations of torture.  

Satar Rahmani, a London-based colleague of Mr Raoof’s, told the Telegraph that the former teacher from Islington, North London, was helping to translate English-language news articles into Farsi around the time of his arrest, as trade unions are banned in Iran.  

“He and 15 other workers were arrested. They were using a coffee shop as a place to talk about workers’ rights,” he said. “But without their knowing, there was a spy, a young girl, in the coffee shop who secretly recorded their discussions, and that led to the arrests.”

Mr Raoof’s only contact with the outside world since his arrest has been a short telephone call three months ago, with a distant relative in Iran.

An inmate at Evin prison, pictured in 2006. Prisoners are allegedly subject to torture

Credit: GETTY IMAGES

While nine other suspects have been bailed, he is being held in ward 2A of Evin, where Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and other dual nationals have been imprisoned. 

Amnesty International described Mr Raoof as a “prisoner of conscience” and expressed concern that he could be given a sentence of up to 16 years. 

Last week Boris Johnson demanded the “immediate release” of Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe and other detained Britons in a phone call with the Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani.

But relatives of the detainees say they are being held as “hostages” due to a long-standing £400 million debt owed by the British government to Iran, over the cancelled sale of Chieftain tanks in 1979.  

The Foreign Office said it was asked to provide consular assistance to Mr Raoof, who is unmarried and has family living in France and the United States.

Read more: Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe describes five years of Iran torture