{"id":21490,"date":"2022-03-20T06:44:14","date_gmt":"2022-03-20T10:44:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/?p=21490"},"modified":"2022-03-20T06:44:14","modified_gmt":"2022-03-20T10:44:14","slug":"british-national-shattered-to-be-back-in-iran-jail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/2022\/03\/20\/british-national-shattered-to-be-back-in-iran-jail\/","title":{"rendered":"British national ‘shattered’ to be back in Iran jail"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A British-US national temporarily released from prison in Iran, is “shattered” to find himself back in jail after 48 hours, his family say.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Morad Tahbaz, who also holds Iranian citizenship, was initially allowed out\u00a0on the same day as Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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They have since returned to the UK, but Mr Tahbaz, 66, is back in Evin jail.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“He is shattered and in disbelief,” a family member, who asked not to be identified, told the BBC.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“He did not think that the UK government would abandon him. He was born in the UK.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The wildlife conservationist, who has cancer, was arrested during a crackdown on environmental activists in January 2018.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The Iranian authorities accused him and seven other conservationists of collecting classified information about Iran’s strategic areas under the pretext of carrying out environmental and scientific projects – charges which they all deny.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Family members say they were promised that Mr Tahbaz, who was born in Hammersmith, west London, would be freed under the deal which brought Anoosheh Ashoori and Nazanin Zaghari-Ratlcliffe back to the UK last week – following\u00a0Britain’s long overdue repayment of an outstanding debt to Iran<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Morad<\/span><\/div>
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Family photo of Morad Tahbaz, as a younger man, with his family (Image: Family photo)<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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On Wednesday, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss announced that Mr Tahbaz had been released to his home in Tehran. She said Mr Tahbaz, Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Mr Ashoori had been freed as a “result of tenacious and creative British diplomacy”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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But two days later Mr Tahbaz’s family said they had received “devastating news” that he had been returned to prison.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“We found out only from the media that he was not coming out,” said the relative interviewed by the BBC’s world affairs correspondent Caroline Hawley. “The first call we got from the government was after the plane carrying Nazanin had left Iran.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Speaking after news of his return to prison on Friday, the Foreign Office said the Iranian authorities had told the UK government that Mr Tahbaz had been taken back to prison to fit an ankle tag that should have been fitted before his release.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“We hope to see him returned to his home in the coming hours,” the Foreign Office said. “Morad Tahbaz is a tri-national and we are working closely with the United States to secure Morad’s permanent release.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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But the family member said that the conservationist’s release had only ever been temporary – extended from 10 hours to 48 hours – before he was taken back to jail.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“He’s still in Evin, he has no ankle tag, ” she said, adding Iran authorities told Mr Tabhaz “there is no agreement and we decide what we want to do”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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She told the BBC the family had been betrayed by the UK government. The Foreign Office have issued no further comment at this stage.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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