Austrian Citizen Released from Iranian Detention

Iranian authorities have released Austrian citizen Christian Weber, who was detained in West Azerbaijan Province, to Austria's ambassador in Tehran. Weber, arrested on charges unrelated to the protests following Mahsa Amini's death, was freed as an act of Islamic mercy. He is now being prepared for exit from Iran.

Iranian authorities have released Austrian citizen Christian Weber, detained for crimes committed in Iran's West Azerbaijan Province, to Austria's ambassador in Tehran, the Iranian judiciary's Mizan news agency reported on Tuesday.

Austria had said in 2022 that one of its citizens was arrested in Iran on charges unrelated to the protests that erupted after the death of Mahsa Amini, a Kurdish Iranian woman who died in custody. The news agency reported that the Austrian citizen was freed in consideration of Islamic mercy. He was handed over to his country's ambassador to arrange his exit, the agency said.

Mizan did not specify the crime for which Weber was jailed. Calls to the Austrian embassy before regular office hours went unanswered. The death of 22-year-old Amini in September 2022 while in custody for allegedly flouting Iran's Islamic dress code unleashed months of protests, marking the biggest challenge to the Islamic republic's clerical leaders in decades.

(With inputs from agencies.)