Senior Iranian diplomat defects, seeks asylum in Switzerland

For the second time in less than a month, a senior Iranian diplomat has defected, abandoning the regime and seeking asylum in Switzerland.

By World Israel News Staff

A senior Iranian diplomat stationed in Vienna has defected from the regime and applied for political asylum in Switzerland.

The story was first reported by the anti-regime outlet Iran International, which identified the defecting diplomat as Gholamreza Derikvand, Iran’s chargé d’affaires in Vienna.

Derikvand is said to have abandoned his assignment in Austria, traveling to Switzerland to seek asylum and cutting ties with the regime in Tehran.

A career diplomat who previously served as the head of Iran’s mission to the Czech Republic, Derikvand is the second high-profile defection from the Islamic Republic’s diplomatic corps in Europe in less than a month.

In mid-January, Alireza Jeyrani Hokmabad, a senior member of Iran’s mission to the United Nations’ European headquarters in Geneva, bolted from his position and filed for asylum in Switzerland.

Hokmabad had served with the mission since 2017, and was the second-highest ranking Iranian official at the UN’s Geneva headquarters.

According to diplomatic sources, Iranian diplomats stationed in Europe are increasingly anxious following revelations regarding the mass killings of protesters last month and the increasingly vocal international support for the dissident movement.

A number of other Iranian diplomats have quietly reached out in recent weeks to European authorities to look into the possibility of seeking asylum, Iran International reported.

Multiple asylum requests from Iranian diplomats are currently being reviewed by different European governments.

During the 2009 protests, a number of Iranian diplomats stationed in Europe quit their posts and filed for asylum, including Mohammed Reza Heydari, Iran’s consul in Norway; Ahmad Maleki, the consul in Milan; and the chargé d’affaires in Finland, Hossein Alizadeh.