Dnevni Avaz daily reported that Muhsin Bayat Giashi was deported on Wednesday on a regular flight to Istanbul, escorted by Bosnian Security Ministry agents.
He was the third Iranian diplomat to be expelled from Bosnia. Less than a month ago, two diplomats accredited with the Iranian Embassy in Sarajevo were declared personae non gratae on suspicion of involvement in espionage.
Their identities have not been made public, but the media found out that Giashi, who has a diplomatic passport, was arrested earlier this week and placed in a centre for illegal migrants near Sarajevo. After his arrest, it was discovered that he was not accredited with the Bosnian Foreign Ministry, so he does not have diplomatic immunity.
His expulsion followed after the Iranian Embassy said it would not request he be given the status of one of its staff. The embassy allegedly told Giashi not to appeal the deportation. He was banned from entering Bosnia for three years.
Dnevni Avaz said the Iranian government had already sent a protest note to Bosnia, but it remains unknown if Iran will reciprocate with Bosnian diplomats in Tehran.
Bosnian and Iranian authorities established close political ties during the 1992-95 war in Bosnia, resulting in Tehran’s aid to the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The close cooperation continued in the first post-war years, but after Western pressure, notably from the US, which accuses Iran of inciting terrorism, the ties have been significantly scaled down.