According to the Iranian embassy in Spain, Spanish national Santiago Sanchez Cogedor, who was arrested sometime in September 2022, has been released from Iranian prison.
La Embajada de la R. I. de Irán se complace en informar la liberación de Santiago Sánchez Cogedor, el único ciudadano español preso en Irán. Su liberación se realiza en el marco de relaciones amistosas e históricas entre los dos países y en cumplimiento de leyes. ????
— Embajada de Irán en España (@IraninSpain) December 31, 2023
The Spanish foreign Ministry confirmed to his family by October 2022 that he was not being held for any political or propaganda reasons. His last contact was through his travel blog on Instagram on October 1st, 2022 in which he was documenting his trek from Madrid to Qatar to make it to the 2022 World Cup in November. However, after crossing into Iran through a Northern Iraqi village, he was arrested.
He was arrested during a heightened security situation during the Mahsa Amini backlash. Dozens of foreigners were arrested for taking part in the protests. However, Cogedor’s arrest did not seem to be involved with those protests. The Iranian government has still made no public statement on the arrest or release.
