IRAN: The Government has still not received official notification of the position regarding Iranian ambassador to Ireland Hamid Reza Nikkar (49), who was arrested on a visit home during the summer. The ambassador is reportedly still detained in the notorious Evin Prison in Tehran.
Last September judicial and foreign ministry sources in Tehran said the ambassador was being held on charges of financial mismanagement, involving a sum of €1.6 million from a construction project. The alleged mismanagement took place in Iran, not Ireland.
He is also reported to be charged with "using public property in favour of a presidential candidate" during last June's election.
The absence of Iranian ambassadorial representation was raised by Fianna Fáil TD Michael Mulcahy at the Joint European Affairs Committee this week. He was told by Minister of State for European Affairs Noel Treacy that full diplomatic relations were in place between the two countries, despite the ambassador's absence from Dublin.
The ambassador's appointment was announced in Tehran on May 23rd while former President Khatami was serving out his last weeks in office. Mr Nikkar had previously served in a variety of posts, including director-general for assets, buildings and logistics, ambassador to Armenia, deputy foreign minister and mayor of Esfahan.
He arrived in Dublin on June 16th and presented his credentials to President McAleese at Áras an Uachtaráin on June 21st, immediately prior to the election of hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as president over Hashemi Rafsanjani on June 24th. He was present in the Mansion House for the address by European Commission President Barroso on June 30th.
The ambassador has an academic background, with degrees in arts and science, and has researched a thesis on the role of the UN in ending the 1980-1988 war between Iran and Iraq.
"The pretrial procedure in Iran can be very protracted," said one close observer. But no official notification has so far reached the Department of Foreign Affairs on the ambassador's position.
"The Iranians have not said a word," said one source. "There is a silence. The ambassador is not here, and we don't know anything else." No comment was available from the Iranian embassy yesterday afternoon.
The fate of Mr Nikkar is not believed to be directly connected with the current dramatic reshuffle in Iran's foreign representation, which is being accompanied by widespread changes throughout the country's administration.
Some 40 ambassadors and senior diplomats have been recalled, including those who were involved in difficult and sensitive negotiations with the so-called "E3" - Britain, France and Germany - on the development of Iran's nuclear programme.
It is also reported that a leading Iranian reformer, Ali Afshani, is currently in Ireland. A prominent student activist, Mr Afshani's speeches were censored in the official press because of their radical tone.
He was imprisoned for his activities and was recently sentenced to a further six years but has been allowed come to Ireland to continue his studies instead, according to a BBC monitoring report on the Iranian media.