Taghoub Fathollahi, the Vice-chancellor of Tarbiat Modares University for research affairs in Tehran, told Iranian media on Saturday that one of the university professors was detained by the FBI on 7 October 2018, and the US authorities have not made any statements on his case since his arrest.
Fathollahi added that the Tarbiat Modares University professor by the name of ‘Masoud Soleimani’ is a distinguished professor who has been ranked among the top 1% scientists in the world. He was arrested by the FBI upon his arrival in the US on unclear charges.
The authority said that the Iranian professor had been invited by the US Mayo Clinic to contribute to a research, and it has been 8 months now that there has not been any news from him.
The official added that the trial of hematology and stem cell researcher has been postponed twice or more over the past eight months while his innocence has been proven by his lawyers. He added that the family of the Tarbiat Modares professor has spent $70,000 on his case so far.
Fathollahi went on to say that two of Soleimani’s PhD students were arrested by the FBI but they have been released on bail.