Dutch-Iranians hold Tehran responsible for execution

Sharzad News,

Shahrzad News puts these questions to a number of Iranian born Dutch citizens who took part in these interviews under pseudonyms, a confirmation of the fact that how concerned they are about their identity becoming known to the Iranian authorities.

The execution of the Iranian born Dutch citizen Zahra Bahrami on Saturday January 29th in Iran for smuggling drugs, has led to widespread reaction and debates among the Iranian community in the Netherlands, in addition to the political tension that has now overshadowed Iran’s relations with the Netherlands.

Iranian-Dutch nationals are asking themselves whether it is any longer safe to travel to Iran? Would the Dutch government’s diplomatic efforts help in freeing any such dual nationality citizens if they were arrested and imprisoned in Iran?

Shahrzad News puts these questions to a number of Iranian born Dutch citizens who took part in these interviews under pseudonyms, a confirmation of the fact that how concerned they are about their identity becoming known to the Iranian authorities.

Yalda Bayram has previously spent eight years in an Islamic Republic’s prison for her political activities and has also published her prison memoirs in the Dutch language, called Yalda. She oppose the idea of goin to the Islamic Republic’s embassy in Holland and apply for an Iranian passport to travel to Iran. “As for others, I believe they too have become more cautious about this idea and the number of Iranian-Dutch citizens visiting Iran recently has dropped. Iranians who live abroad must refrain from going to Iran at the moment. The Islamic Republic regime is generally very sensitive about the Iranians who live abroad and travel to Iran. This is because during their visits a lot of first hand information about the conditions in the country is exchanged between them and their relatives. the execution of Zahra Bahrami is an attempt to scare off other Iranian in diaspora. More diplomatic pressure could have commuted her sentence. “I remember that while I was a political prisoner myself during the 1990s the international diplomatic pressure and the visit to Iran’s prisons by the UN Special Human Right envoy Galindopohl led to the release of a number of us.”

Behrooz has a supermarket in one of the cities in the Netherlands. The political climate in Iran has taken a turn for the worse and this has forced him to cut his visits to the country to a minimum number. “Of course Dutch- Iranians love to visit their country of their origin. But the regime is not rational. Iranians must be very vigilant and think twice before going to Iran as their lives might be in serious danger”. Behrooz thinks neither the Dutch government nor the United States or United Nations can stop this regime from acts of murder. “The regime’s killing machine has switched itself on. To stop it much more serious actions must take place. The Iranian people must rise up against the regime, just like what happened in Tunisia, and force Ahmadinejad to run away”.

Mahboubeh is a librarian and has lived in Holland for the last 16 years. She divorced her husband and came to Holland to save her own and her daughter’s lives. She has visited Iran four times over the last seven years. However, with the increasing crackdowns of the regime against the dissidents over the last two years, she has now stopped visiting Iran and has no desire of going there in the near future too. “One has to be very careful. In Iran because the situations change rapidly. Here we plan and prepare our trips in an organised way and months in advance, but the moment that you are packing your suitcases or getting on the plane you would never know what might happen in Iran the next minute that can ruin all your plans as a result. Ahmadinejad does not care what the Dutch government says or wants. He just carries out his own agenda, just like the ones that took place last month.”

Negar is studying for her post-graduate degree in Delft University since 2009 and has a student passport and used it to travel to Iran during last year’s Persian New Year holidays. However, her family have now cautioned her not to visit Iran for the time being and only concentrate on her studies.“ I do not even attend any Iranians’ gatherings and just want to finish my studies as soon as possible. I did not know that the Iranian government does not recognise the dual nationality status. It is only now and as a result of Mrs Bahrami’s unfortunate case that I have come to realise this. It is obvious that once in Iran she has to be under the Iranian judiciary system.”

Farideh is a doctor and has lived in Holland for the last 22 years. She says she has visited Iran several times over these years but because of the current political climate in the country she would not dare do so now.“Under the current circumstance in Iran the same thing that has happened to Zahra Bahrami can happen to any one of us and it is much safer to avoid travelling to the country. It looks as though no one had thoroughly followed the case of Zahra Bahrami to save her life, and that includes her family, her lawyer as well as the Dutch government”.

Saeed has lived in Holland for the last 17 years and has not visited Iran during this period. He says as long as this regime rules in Iran it is wrong to go back to the country. “I would not go there. I think in the case of Zahra Bahrami the Iranian regime has snubbed and deceived the Dutch government”.

Ayda has lived in Holland for 25 years. She has repeatedly visited Iran but believes travelling to the country at the moment is fraught with danger. “It’s an individual matter. It is a decision that one has to make considering his or her own personal circumstances and find out if it is a right or wrong trip to make.To have a Dutch passport does not solve any problem either as it does not give you any immunity once in Iran.”.

Milad has lived in Holland as a political refugee for the last 22 years and has never visited Iran during this time. He has been a political prisoner both under the Pahlavi regime and the Islamic Republic. “Going, or not going to Iran is a matter of personal choice, but those who wish to travel to Iran must bear in mind that the political life of the country has worsened. It’s risky.”

Every Iranian born Dutch who enters Iran uses his or her Iranian passport. That means they technically ignore their rights as Dutch nationals and travel as an Iranian. On that basis the Iranian government can turn and say to any foreign government that you have no right to interfere in our internal affairs. And as a result the Dutch government cannot practically do anything at all”