Second Iranian Diplomat in Europe Defects, Seeks Asylum, Amid US Pressure Campaign
4th February 2026
Trump’s repeated threats to bomb Iran seem to have resulted in some Iranian officials abandoning ship. There have been reports of two such recent instances.
In the latest, Iran’s chargé d’affaires in Vienna, Gholamreza Derikvand, abruptly abandoned his post and is reportedly seeking asylum in Switzerland for himself and his family.
The Iranian government has not confirmed this, however, and Iran’s Foreign Ministry has simply said amid the speculation of the diplomat’s sudden absence that it is “avoiding discussing the case or claiming ignorance due to fear of intelligence agencies.”
Derikvand’s colleagues told Iran International that Derikvand was widely seen as a rising figure within Iran’s diplomatic corps and could have been promoted to ambassador had he stayed on. His résumé includes a previous stint as chargé d’affaires at Iran’s embassy in the Czech Republic from 2011 to 2014.