Foreign Ministry Pursuing Fate of Detained Iranian Teachers in UAE: Spokesman
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian Government Spokesman Mohammad Baqer Nobakht announced on Wednesday that the foreign ministry has been tasked with following up on the week-long arrest of 9 Iranian teachers by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), apparently due to visa problems.
The Government has obliged the Foreign Ministry to pursue the issue of teachers’ detention in Abu Dhabi emirate, Nobakht told the Tasnim News Agency, adding that the ministry is seriously following up on the issue.
The legal issues raised this year by the UAE – that those who have work permit from Dubai cannot work in Abu Dhabi – were not implemented like this in previous years, he noted.
The UAE has taken a tough line on the issue this year, Nobakht added.
Media reports on Monday suggested that the teachers were having a "bad experience" in prison and had their heads shaved since their arrest last week. It has been reported they had previously worked in Al Ain on their Dubai visas without any problem.
Meanwhile, Iran on Sunday summoned the charge d’affaires of the United Arab Emirates in Tehran to protest at the arrests.
Iran’s foreign ministry had earlier stressed that the teachers, all male, work at an Iranian school in Al Ain, part of the emirate of Abu Dhabi, but their work permits were from Dubai, another emirate in the UAE.
