Holiday tragedy: Iranian grandfather and former Mayor of Tabriz dies after intense questioning at Dulles
Washington Post: Iranian citizen Daryoush Sarreshteh, 73, who was once Mayor of Tabriz died Last month shortly after intense questioning at Dulles Airport in Washington, DC by immigration officials.
Sarreshteh - a U.S. greencard holder - and his wife Sakineh - a naturalized U.S. citizen - arrived at Dulles International Airport after nearly 18 hours of travel aboard different flights that originated from Tabriz, Iran, where he was once the mayor. They were looking forward to seeing their daughter and granddaughter in Falls Church. Daryoush Sarreshteh had a green card, though he had not been in this country in three years. The three-year absence intrigued the officers at Customs and Border Protection, who took the Sarreshtehs into the back and began to question them. According to Sakineh Sarreshteh, this involved a great deal of shouting and intimidating in English, which neither understood. The detention and interrogation lasted for more than five hours, with their confused family waiting elsewhere in the terminal, and it seemed to stagger Daryoush Sarreshteh. He emerged just before midnight, pale and fearful, his wife said.
Two days later, he suffered what appears to be a sudden heart attack and died in his daughter’s home in Falls Church. His family believes the interrogation by the Customs officers killed him.
The Sarreshteh family is considering a lawsuit against Customs, depending on the results of the autopsy of Sarreshteh, attorney Demetrios Pikrallidas said. Pikrallidas, a Fairfax lawyer, indicates, “Our allegation is that the stress did this to him.” He said it was possible Sarreshteh had developed a blood clot in his leg which traveled to his heart, but would not have been fatal if he hadn’t been under stress. Sarreshteh’s wife collapsed the night of his death and had to be hospitalized.
“This is basically a wrongful arrest,” Pikrallidas says. “There’s no reason to hold him for five hours.”