IranWire has obtained information indicating that the Islamic Republic has revoked the passport of Masoud Taheri, a 48-year-old Iranian Christian convert who has lived in Armenia for seven years. Mr. Taheri is among the Iranians who have been protesting in Armenia against the suppression and killing of Iranians inside the country and the internet blackouts since the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement, and particularly following the massacres of January.
On Friday, May 8, he intended to leave Armenia, where he holds legal residency, for a trip using a Schengen visa. However, passport control officers at Yerevan airport informed him that his passport had been revoked and that his travel document had to be confiscated by order of the Islamic Republic’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Since then, this citizen has been left in limbo, not even knowing whether he still holds Iranian citizenship.
What does the revocation of passports of protesting citizens and opponents of the Islamic Republic outside Iran signify? Is it legal? Which institution is responsible for the limbo and hardships that Iranian dissidents are grappling with?
Who is Masoud Taheri, and Why Was His Passport Confiscated?
Mr. Taheri, 48, was born in Tehran, is married, and is the father of two children. He is a Christian convert who, seven years ago, was arrested and prosecuted by the Islamic Republic’s Ministry of Intelligence due to his beliefs. In December 2020, he was ultimately released from detention on bail and left Iran to immigrate to Armenia before his trial. IranWire has reviewed documents showing that he was previously prosecuted by the Public and Revolutionary Court of District 9 in Mashhad on charges of “propaganda against the regime of the Islamic Republic.”
