Iran's ex-consul general in Oslo granted asylum
Thu Feb 18, 8:07 am ET

OSLO (AFP) – Iran's former consul general in Oslo, who quit his job last month in protest at Tehran's violent repression of opposition demonstrators, has been granted political asylum in Norway, an official said Thursday. "Mohammed Raza Heydari and his family have been granted political asylum in Norway. All necessary information pertaining to the case was provided. Consequently, it was possible for us to reach a conclusion now," the Norwegian directorate of immigration (UDI) spokeswoman Bente Engesland said in a statement. Heydari told AFP on January 20 that he had asked UDI for political asylum. In early January, the diplomat announced he had resigned from his position after Tehran's crackdown on opposition demonstrators on December 27 left at least eight people dead and hundreds of others either injured or imprisoned.

Heydari lost his diplomatic passport when he quit and said he was seeking political asylum in order to obtain documents that would allow him to travel freely. "I am a diplomat and everyone knows what happens to a diplomat if he turns his back on a regime such as the one in place in Iran," he had told AFP. "Returning to Tehran would be putting my life and my family's at risk," he added.