RTE Interactive, Ireland
Sept 21 2005
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Tehran’s ambassador to Ireland is arrested
21 September 2005 14:17
Tehran’s ambassador to Ireland has been arrested in Iran on charges
of financial mismanagement, according to Iranian judicial and foreign
ministry sources.
Judiciary Minister Jamal Karimirad told reporters on Monday an
Iranian envoy had been arrested and was in jail after failing to meet
bail.
Foreign Ministry sources today named the man as Hamid Reza Nikkar,
ambassador to Ireland. There was no indication of how Nikkar pleaded.
‘One of our ambassadors has been arrested for financial
mismanagement,’ Karimirad said on Monday. ‘Ten percent of a
16million deal has been mismanaged,’ he added.
It was unclear whether the charge, which one source said involved a
construction project, related to a crime committed in Iran or abroad.
Nikkar took up his posting in Dublin in June and foreign ministry
sources said the charges were likely to relate to an alleged offence
before his arrival in Ireland.
Press reports at the time of Nikkar’s appointment said he had served
as ambassador to Armenia and mayor of the central city of Isfahan
before taking up his Dublin post.
The Irish ambassador in Tehran declined to comment on the case.