After remaining jailed for over 50 days, Iran has finally released Pakistani rice exporter on bail. According to sources, a Pakistani rice merchant Haji Abdul Bahadur was in jail in Mashhad on charges of hoarding of rice imported into Iran. He remained imprisoned for around two months despite diplomatic struggles made by Pakistani Consulate General in Iran.
However, the Quetta based exporter, who was arrested by authorities in Mashhad in the first week of November 2012, got bail from Iranian court recently. This incident had increased the fear and concerns of Pakistani exporters about the foreign market where they were already facing payment issues and devaluation of Iranian currency against dollar.
Hamidullah Khan, a Quetta based Pakistani exporter, confirmed that the exporter who was charged against hoarding of approximately 400 m/tone rice, valuing 500,000 dollars in the godown in Mashhad was released by the neighbouring country’s court. According to him, the accused Pakistani exporter had hired a lawyer in Mashhad to contest his case in Iranian court as diplomatic efforts had not been fruitful to resolve the issue.
