ERBIL, Kurdistan - Iran released a Spanish woman who had been detained in the country since November, Spain’s foreign minister confirmed on Sunday.
Ana Baneira Suarez, 24, was detained in November amid the nationwide protests that engulfed Iran over the death of a young Kurdish woman, Zhina Amini, while in police custody two months prior. The circumstances and reasons behind Baneira’s arrest were never confirmed by Iranian authorities.
“She was freed yesterday but we did not want to make it public until her plane took off,” Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said, as cited by Spain’s state-owned RTVE. Baneira flew home from Tehran via Dubai.
Albares added that he had spoken to her and that she was “well”, adding that she was on her way to her hometown in northwestern Spain.
He stated that during her detention, the Spanish ambassador in Iran had visited her several times and that he had asked his Iranian counterpart to release her.
Another Spanish national still remains detained in Iran. Santiago Sanchez was arrested in October as he was trekking and documenting his journey from Madrid to the World Cup in Doha. Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) at the time reported that he had been arrested in the Kurdish city of Saqqez after visiting Amini’s grave.
The Spanish foreign ministry reassured that they continue working to secure Sanchez’s release. “Today is a happy day but the happiness will be complete once Santiago is free,” Albares said.
There are a number of dual and foreign nationals being held in Iranian prisons on charges of spying for foreign governments with rights groups accusing Tehran of using them as bargaining chips to gain concessions from world powers.
