Iran Urged to Release Philosopher

International pressure is growing on Iran to release a prominent philosopher and writer, Ramin Jahanbegloo, who was arrested two months ago on unspecified charges.

His incarceration in the notorious Evin prison has left Tehran's intellectual circles concerned about his fate and their own. His friends insist that he is not politically active. Although Iran has an abysmal human rights record, Mr Jahanbegloo's arrest at Mehrabad airport in Tehran has created greater interest abroad than usual because he is well known among foreign academics.

Amnesty International is highlighting his arrest in its worldwide appeal this month and the EU and the Canadian government - he holds Iranian and Canadian citizenship - have appealed for his release.

Amid Reza Asefi, an Iranian foreign ministry spokesman, said: "This chap had some suspicious links with sources. I do not know the charges against him. Security have to inform the public after they finish their investigation."

A Tehran-based political analyst who is a friend of Mr Jahanbegloo said the philosopher was being accused of contact with foreigners, though that by itself is not a crime in Iran. He added that an Iranian news agency said he had attended a conference on democracy at the Wilson Centre in the US.

"It is a very sad case. Ramin has been caught up in a security apparatus crackdown on those organising. He is not an organiser. He is a philosopher. This is difficult to understand since all he goes on about is Hegel. Most of his contacts are at an academic level. He is not a foreign policy specialist. The only way it makes sense is if it is a signal to the intellectual community."

Amnesty said: "Under Iranian law, there is no legal limit to the time he can be detained before being charged or released."

A western diplomat in Tehran said: "We do our own human rights assessments and human rights have gone backwards in the last year. We have not seen a sea change but at the margins it has gone backwards."