UN rapporteur on torture decries Iran's seizure of 66 'hostages' since 2010

Iran has taken hostage at least 66 people since 2010, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Alice Jill Edwards reported on Tuesday, criticizing Tehran's detention of civil society figures and dual nationals for political ends.

"At least 66 cases of State hostage-taking in the Islamic Republic of Iran have been reported since 2010," the report released on Tuesday said.

"Journalists, aid workers, academics, business travelers and human rights defenders are especially vulnerable," it added. "Dual nationals are often specifically targeted, and, in some cases, those individuals have been denied consular assistance from their other country of nationality."

The report covered hostage-taking in an array of countries and cited an International Court of Justice ruling that states like Iran and not just militant groups take part in the practice.

Iran denies a policy of hostage-taking but has repeatedly seized dissidents, foreigners and dual nationals in exchange for its detained nationals and economic concessions.

“Hostage-taking is cruelty – plain and simple – and almost always involves torture,” Edwards said. “It inflicts severe physical and psychological suffering on both hostages and their families.”

The German embassy in Tehran is investigating reports of the detention of a German national and has raised the matter with Iranian authorities, a source from the German Federal Foreign Office told Iran International on Sunday.

As a diplomatic standoff over Tehran's disputed nuclear program deepens, Iran has been detaining more Western citizens.

Iran last month charged a British couple in the midst of a worldwide road trip with espionage. The United Kingdom is one of three European countries involved in ongoing talks with Tehran over the nuclear dossier.

Another, France, has protested Iran's continued detention of three of its nationals.