Iran May Soon Release Zakka 'at Aoun's Request'

Iranian authorities might soon release Lebanese detainee Nizar Zakka from prison, Iranian media reports said on Monday.

“Zakka's release will take place at the request of Lebanese President Michel Aoun, who has called on Iranian authorities to free him,” the Tabnak news portal, which is close to Iran's revolutionary guard, said.

“President Aoun's request has been approached positively in light of his influential role and the decision to release Zakka will likely be implemented quickly and at any given time,” Tabnak added.

Iran's Mehr news agency meanwhile quoted informed sources as saying that Iranian authorities are mulling Zakka's release following a request from Aoun.

The sources said Aoun's request has been met positively in Iran in light of the Lebanese president's “pro-resistance stances.”

Zakka has been detained in Iran since 2015 over spying allegations. He was sentenced in 2016 to 10 years in prison and a $4.2 million fine.

Zakka, who lived in Washington and held resident status in the U.S., was the leader of the Arab ICT Organization, or IJMA3, an industry consortium from 13 countries that advocates for information technology in the region.

He disappeared Sept. 18, 2015, during his fifth trip to Iran. He had been invited to attend a conference at which President Hassan Rouhani spoke of providing more economic opportunities for women and sustainable development.

On Nov. 3 that year Iranian state television aired a report saying he was in custody and calling him a spy with "deep links" with U.S. intelligence services.

It also showed what it described as a damning photo of Zakka and three other men in army-style uniforms, two with flags and two with rifles on their shoulders. But that turned out to be from a homecoming event at Zakka's prep school, the Riverside Military Academy in Georgia, according to the school's president.