Iranian Diplomat Arrested in Turkey over Alleged Involvement in Dissident’s Killing

The Iranian and Turkish foreign ministers attend a joint press conference. (Wikimedia)

Turkish authorities arrested Mohammad Reza Naserzadeh, a staff member of the Iranian Consulate in Istanbul, last week. The authorities suspect Naserzadeh was involved in the November 2019 killing of Iranian dissident Masoud Molavi Vardanjani. Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh denied that Naserzadeh was arrested by the Turkish government, and he called reports of the event “totally groundless and founded on baseless allegations.” 

Turkish authorities learned of Naserzadeh’s alleged involvement in the killing while questioning Siyavash Abazari Shalamzari, another man suspected of involvement in the plot. Naserzadeh’s name also matched initials Turkish officials found in 2019. 

Naserzadeh stands accused of helping to forge travel documents for the alleged mastermind of the killing, Ali Esfanjani, so that he could escape to Iran. He denies the charges levied against him, arguing that he was not in Turkey when Vardanjani was killed and that he does not know Esfanjani. 

Vardanjani, a former Iranian intelligence operative, fled Iran in 2018 after the Iranian government launched an investigation against him. He frequently posted on social media about corruption in the Iranian government and in its Quds force and was closely surveilled by the Iranian government before his death. 

Relations between Iran and Turkey, which have grown closer under Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, could be strained by this arrest. Iran and Turkey already fight on opposite sides of conflicts in Syria and the Caucasus, and Turkey’s arrests of 11 people who were accused of helping Iran kidnap a dissident in Istanbul only worsened relations between the countries. 

Last year, a senior U.S. official and two senior Turkish officials said that Iranian intelligence was directly involved in the killing of Vardanjani. According to the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Iran is in direct contact with Turkish officials in an effort to shed light on the issue.