A British-Iranian man has been taken back to prison in Iran two days after he was released under armed guard to his family’s home in Tehran.
Morad Tahbaz, 66, a London-born businessman and conservationist with British, American and Iranian citizenship, was given a furlough as part of a deal to free Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori. Tahbaz has been returned to Evin prison in Tehran under armed guard only 48 hours after being released.
He was taken from the two-bedroom flat yesterday afternoon and returned to the jail, his family said. His sister, Tarane Tahbaz, said that his release on furlough was “a farce” that had been orchestrated to allow the return of Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 43, and Ashoori, 68.
“We all thought something odd was going on,” she told The Times. “This was a way to get the other two on the plane in enough time and to make an excuse that he was on furlough while released and happy with his family.” She said that her brother was originally released for ten hours, which was extended to 48. “This was enough time for everybody to get out and be reunited with their families and obviously for the foreign minister to have her moment of glory,” she said. “We were disappointed with two days and now we just feel deceived. How stupid could you be?”
Zaghari-Ratcliffe and her husband, Richard Ratcliffe, are said to be extremely worried about Tahbaz and have raised concerns with parliamentarians.
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Tahbaz’s wife Vida, 61, who has had her passport confiscated by the Iranian regime and is living in the flat with her elderly parents, was barely fit to speak after he was “dragged away”, Tarane Tahbaz said.
She added that her brother had been receiving cancer treatment before his imprisonment, where he has twice contracted the coronavirus. “We are worried that he is frankly going to be forgotten and we don’t know what to do now,” she added.
Tahbaz was arrested in January 2018 with a group from the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation and charged with spying for America. Iran is treating him as an American citizen and resisted him being part of the deal to release the other two British citizens.
The Foreign Office said: “The Iranians have told the UK government that Morad has been taken to Evin to fit an ankle tag that should have been fitted before his release.” It added: “We hope to see him returned to his home in the coming hours.”
