An Iranian-German citizen imprisoned in Iran is not included in an amnesty order issued by the leader of the Islamic republic, according to her family.
Mariam Claren, Nahid Taghavi's daughter, said in a statement published on her Twitter account that Iranian judicial authorities told her lawyers that her mother "would have been released if she was not a German national."
Taghavi, a trained architect who lived in the German city of Cologne for nearly four decades, was active in supporting women's rights and freedom of expression in Iran, according to the Germany rights group IGFM.
"We have been told for years that the Islamic Republic does not recognize dual citizenship. Except when it is in their interest," Claren added.
Tehran has repeatedly said it does not recognize dual nationality and denies holding foreign nationals for political reasons.
In February, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued an amnesty for "tens of thousands" of prisoners, including protesters arrested during the anti-government rallies, as the country finds itself engulfed in a wave of unrest following the September 16 death of a young woman while in custody for allegedly violating the country's head-scarf law.
Nahid Taghavi has been held at Tehran's Evin prison since October 2020 and placed in prolonged solitary confinement.
In August 2021, an Islamic Revolutionary Court sentenced Taghavi to 10 years and eight months in prison on national security-related charges following what Amnesty International called a "grossly unfair trial."
The 69-year-old Taghavi was suffering chronic back pain and had been denied surgery on her spine that specialist doctors said she urgently requires.
Western countries have repeatedly said that Iran is trying to take advantage of foreign countries by taking dual and foreign nationals hostage and then using them in prisoner swaps.
Iranian security forces have taken some 40 foreign nationals into custody during the current wave of unrest, often without revealing any charges.