Her German-Iranian daughter, Nahid Taghavi, said she had been released from prison in Iran.
Maryam Clarin wrote on the X website, “It's over. Nahid is free! After more than four years as a political prisoner in the Islamic Republic of Iran, my mother was released and returned to Germany.”
Taghavi, 70, was arrested in Tehran in October 2020 and sentenced to 10 years in prison the following August after being convicted of forming a group “with the aim of disturbing national security” and “spreading propaganda against the regime.”
Amnesty International said the charges, which it denied, appeared to be linked to a social media account about women's rights, and that the trial was grossly unfair.
In response to a photo of Taghavi and her daughter hugging at an airport on Sunday, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock wrote: “A great moment of joy because Nahid Taghavi can finally embrace her family again.”
There was no immediate comment from the Iranian judiciary.
Amnesty International said Taghavi's health deteriorated dramatically while she was detained in the notorious Evin prison – in the Iranian capital Tehran – where it said conditions were “cruel and inhumane” and medical care was “inadequate”.
She added that she spent seven months in solitary confinement between her arrest and conviction, during which time she was forced to sleep on the floor.
Taghavi also suffered from a herniated disc, osteoporosis, diabetes, and high blood pressure, according to her daughter.
In July 2022, Taghavi was granted urgent medical leave from prison to receive treatment for back and neck problems. However, she was returned to Evin four months later.
Her fellow inmate in Evin Prison, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi, warned in June 2023 that Taghavi's life was “in danger,” saying she was in such severe pain that she “can barely get out of bed.”
Taqavi has been allowed to take medical leave two more times during 2024.
The first began in January and lasted several weeks, but she was recalled to prison before completing her medical treatment, and the second began at the end of September. During those periods she had to wear an electronic tag on her ankle and had to stay within one kilometer (less than a mile) of her home in Tehran.
Amnesty International said that Taghavi returned by air to Germany on Sunday.
“Words cannot describe our joy,” Taghavi’s daughter said in a separate statement published by the human rights organization on Monday.
“At the same time, we mourn the four years that were stolen from us and the horror she had to endure in Evin Prison.”
Amnesty International called on Iran to release dozens of dual nationals, and many non-violent political prisoners, who it said were being arbitrarily detained.
Taghavi's release comes months after the death of another imprisoned German-Iranian citizen, sparking a diplomatic dispute between Berlin and Tehran.
At the end of October, Baerbock ordered the closure of all three Iranian consulates in Germany after Iranian state media reported that Jamshid Sharmahd — a US-based dissident who was sentenced to death in 2023 after a trial that human rights groups said was unfair — He has been executed. It has been implemented.
But the Iranian judiciary spokesman claimed days later that Sharmahd “died before the sentence was carried out.” His family said they did not trust anything the Iranian authorities said and demanded an international investigation.
