Iran

Iran appears in the account as a place of long-term restriction in Abu Hafs’s post-September 11 trajectory, rather than as a location in Mohamedou Ould Slahi’s own journey through detention. After leaving Afghanistan, Abu Hafs was placed under a comparatively soft form of house arrest by Iranian authorities for more than a decade.

Abu Hafs in Iran

Abu Hafs was both Mohamedou Ould Slahi’s cousin and brother-in-law, and his association with him figured in the government’s case concerning Slahi’s alleged continuing membership in al-Qaeda. The account notes that Abu Hafs had been a member of Osama bin Laden’s Shura Council, but also that the United States had long known he opposed the September 11 attacks. Iran was where he remained under house arrest after leaving Afghanistan.

Repatriation and aftermath

In April 2012, Iranian authorities repatriated Abu Hafs to Mauritania. He was held in a Mauritanian prison for two months, reportedly met an international delegation that included Americans, condemned the September 11 attacks, and renounced his ties to al-Qaeda. He was released in July 2012 and thereafter lived as a free man. Iran’s role in this account therefore ends with the transfer that returned him to Mauritania, while his earlier confinement there marks a lengthy interval between his departure from Afghanistan and his return.