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Asharq Al-Awsat
Asharq Al-Awsat
World
Asharq Al-Awsat

Iran Frees Spanish Woman Detained Since Late 2022

A general view in Madrid, Spain, October 3, 2020. REUTERS/Javier Barbancho

Iran has released a Spanish woman, Ana Baneira, who had been in detention since November, Spain's foreign minister said on Sunday.

"She was freed yesterday but we didn't want to announce it publicly before her plane had taken off from Iran," Jose Manuel Albares told journalists.

"I was able to speak with her... She is well," he said, adding that Baneira, was on her way to her home region of Galicia, in northwestern Spain, following her release on Saturday.

Baneira was 24 years old when she was arrested in November, the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) revealed at the time.

The circumstances of her detention were never confirmed by Iranian authorities, AFP reported.

However, it took place amid protests that followed the death in custody of a young Iranian woman, Mahsa Amini.

Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd, was arrested by the morality police in September for allegedly violating Iran's the strict dress code for women.

Her death in hospital three days later triggered widespread outrage.

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