British-Iranian dual national flees Iran on foot over mountains
British-Iranian dual national flees Iran on foot over mountains
A British-Iranian academic has fled Iran on foot through the country’s mountains after he was convicted of collaboration with the UK government.
Kameel Ahmady, who went to Britain to study social sciences, was sentenced to nine years in prison in Iran in December. An appeal against his conviction was rejected in absentia.
While in the UK, Ahmady applied for British citizenship. He then returned to Iran to pursue his career in anthropology, focusing on the rights of young women and girls, especially over forced marriage and female genital mutilation.
In Iran he campaigned against both, including calling for the legal age of marriage for girls, currently 13, to be raised.
This brought him to the attention of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which arrested him in August 2019.
A British-Iranian academic has fled Iran on foot through the country’s mountains after he was convicted of collaboration with the UK government. Kameel Ahmady, who went to Britain to study social sciences, was sentenced to nine years in prison in Iran in December. An appeal against his conviction was rejected in absentia. While in the UK, Ahmady applied for British citizenship. He then returned to Iran to pursue his career in anthropology, focusing on the rights of young women and girls, especially over forced marriage and female genital mutilation. In Iran he campaigned against both, including calling for the legal age of marriage for girls, currently 13, to be raised. This brought him to the attention of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which arrested him in August 2019. He then returned to Iran to pursue his career in anthropology, focusing on the rights of young women and girls, especially over forced marriage and female genital mutilation. In Iran he campaigned against both, including calling for the legal age of marriage for girls, currently 13, to be raised. This brought him to the attention of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which arrested him in August 2019.
