Baku: Farid Safarli, who was imprisoned in Iran, has been returned to Azerbaijan, according to a joint press release issued by Azerbaijan's State Security Service and Azerbaijan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, APA reports. Safarli, a citizen of Azerbaijan, was detained in Iran in 2023 and was transferred back to Azerbaijan on January 18, 2025, as part of international legal cooperation and mutual procedure directives from the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

According to Azeri-Press News Agency, Safarli, a 27-year-old student from the University of Jena in Germany, traveled to Tehran on February 20, 2023, to visit his girlfriend, who had completed an internship at the same university. Although he was scheduled to return to Germany on March 5, communication with him was lost on March 4 when his phone was turned off. It was later revealed that Iranian authorities had charged him with espionage.

During a court hearing on July 19, 2023, the original charge of "espionage" against Safarli was mitigated to "intent to espionage." Following the court's verdict, he was sentenced to two and a half years in prison. Upon his return to Azerbaijan, Safarli was reunited with his family after undergoing a medical examination. The Azerbaijani government has pledged to take necessary measures to protect the rights and interests of its citizens abroad.