There is a dim light at the tunnel’s end. Beatriz Arrabal, a 39 year-old woman from Granada, hasn’t seen her son in 4 years. Hamed Khaksar (an Iranian native) took Oliver, who was four years old, more than three thousand miles away. He did not consent to it. The woman was working, Hamed managed to escape to Tehran using a temporary permit issued by the Embassy. He arrived at their London home and was unable to find them. Hours later, he discovered that Hamed’s partner, who had been reported for ill-treatment, had abducted his son. The Granadan began a legal quest to find the minor. This journey will continue Monday at La Caleta’s court of 10th instance. She is suing for custody of the child, now seven years, as well as her husband’s divorce.
“I was four years ago with my son for the last. To try to make things work, I visited him in Iran for a 4-month trip. He laments that the last time he saw him was in August via video conference. Since then, he has only spoken to me for seven minutes in February.” Arrabal is aware that his chances of reuniting the child are very slim, but he won’t stop trying. He will file for the Spanish divorce and custody when he is granted it. The couple had made their marriage legal in their respective countries. Legal assumptions like abuse or addiction may lead to divorce in Iran. The Granadan will also renounce her Iranian citizenship. She will attempt to claim the child through the embassy. Iran is not a signatory to the Hague Convention that guarantees the return of minors who were illegally transferred or retained.
“They will give custody to me and I will be recognized. My son’s father will not appear in court. I can only negotiate with him diplomatically to try to reach an arrangement. He says he would be happy to have it for a few more months during the summer. Arrabal says that the embassy has been there for him throughout the years, sending packages to Oliver during the pandemic and transferring the state where Oliver is now when he doesn’t receive any news about his son.
I miss him, but I have done all that I can to get ahead. He told me that he loved me, but didn’t want me to see him the last time we spoke. He is a boy, and I don’t know what his father has to say about him, he says. Arrabal, a SAS health professional, has focused her efforts on her family and work to overcome the depression she suffered from after the separation. “I have rebuilt my life, found a partner, and no longer require medication for depression. I have refocused my attention on my work and my family. She says that Oliver should be reunited with his mother if he ever gets back to me.
