arrest warrant to British immigration officials in an effort to win asylum in the United Kingdom.
But the South Wales Evening Post said the UK Border Agency denied that, saying it never received a forged warrant from Jahangir Farzad Barjani, 27.
But that doesn’t mean Barjani will be allowed to stay in Britain. The UK Border Agency still plans to deport him since he was caught with a large supply of drugs.
Barjani came to Britain five years ago, the South Wales Evening Post reported. He claimed asylum and sought refugee status. Britain did not grant him refugee status, but it did permit him to remain in Britain as a foreigner with no right to apply for citizenship. The Border Agency did not explain the reason for that decision.
The newspaper said members of the Iranian community in Swansea, the main city in Wales, told the authorities that Barjani had bought a forged Iranian arrest warrant to show that he would be persecuted if he returned to Iran. But the Border Agency said no such document was submitted to it.
Manochere Kazemi, a carryout shop owner in Swansea said he and others had seen the forged document. They reported that and their suspicions about Barjani’s drug trafficking to the police.
The newspaper reported that some members of the Swansea Iranian-British community, said to number about 300, had signed a petition urging that Barjani be deported.
On March 29, Barjani was stopped by police on a major highway and found carrying 129 grams of heroin worth about $20,000 on the street.
He was sentenced to four years in prison last month after pleading guilty to drug trafficking offenses. He is expected to be deported when his term is finally up.