‘Tehran has right to seek compensation from U.S. for mistreatment of Iranian prisoner’

TEHRAN,Aug.12(MNA) -- Iran’s ambassador to Oman, Hossein Noushabadi, said on Friday that the Iranian government has the right to seek compensation from the United States for its mistreatment of Shahrzad Mir-Qolikhan, an Iranian woman who was imprisoned in the U.S. for five years. Several years ago, Mir-Qolikhan and her former husband were arrested by the Austrian police on charges of purchasing dual-use equipment. She was released from prison after completing her sentence and returned to Iran. Mir-Qolikhan told Press TV via telephone from inside prison on November 1, 2010 that she was duped into visiting the United States in 2007 by U.S. officials, who then tried to “make her a spy” and use her to find the whereabouts of her ex-husband. She was then sentenced to five years in prison. She was released from prison a few days ago and arrived in the Omani capital Muscat on Tuesday. Ambassador Noushabadi said, “Unfortunately, Ms. Mir-Qolikhan was imprisoned five years ago based on false and unfounded charges made by the government of the United States and its judicial authorities and was interrogated under the worst circumstances and was psychologically tortured.” “The (Iranian) government and Ms. Shahrzad Mir-Qolikhan have the right to seek compensation and file a complaint with international legal and judicial authorities and human rights institutions to restore the violated rights of an innocent Iranian citizen,” he added. He also stated, “The U.S. government cannot regard the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Sultanate of Oman as indebted for the release of Mir-Qolikhan because she served her illegal sentence to the last day and left the country of the United States after serving her entire sentence. And given the fact that Omani officials have followed up her transfer to Iran from the United States, she is currently in Oman, and, God willing, will arrive in our beloved country, Islamic Iran, in the coming days. “The Islamic Republic of Iran and the Sultanate of Oman have been cooperating on humanitarian and human rights issues and hold consultations on regional and international developments. And the case of Ms. Mir-Qolikhan was one of the cases over which the Islamic Republic of Iran sought the mediation… of the Omani government and the country’s help, but the U.S. government did not take any measure to commute Ms. Mir-Qolikhan’s sentence or grant her amnesty or release her.”