Iran Jails Researcher Accused of ‘Subversive’ Conduct

An Iranian court on Sunday sentenced a local anthropologist who holds British citizenship to nine years in prison for conducting “subversive” research, after it was revealed the man had published his studies on child marriage and female genital mutilation in Iran overseas. In addition to his lengthy sentence, Kameel Ahmady, an ethnic Kurd who was detained over a year ago, was fined over $720,000, which is the amount officials claim he received for his research work from institutions accused of seeking to topple the Islamic Republic. Ahmady’s lawyer promised to appeal the ruling. Tehran’s controversial judiciary processes had already caused diplomatic tensions earlier this week with the execution of an Iranian journalist. France, Germany, Italy and Austria condemned the act and pulled out of an international business forum organized by Iran and scheduled for Monday, while the European Union and several human rights groups denounced the execution.