LONDON: A man who was released from Iran’s Evin prison as part of a deal made between London and Tehran has been returned to prison just days after being released.
Joint British, US and Iranian citizen Morad Tahbaz was sentenced to 10 years behind bars in 2019 after being arrested while on a conservation trip to Iran. He was accused of spying for the US government.
On Wednesday, he was released from jail and put under house arrest, but has been returned to Evin prison, his family said.
According to the UK Foreign Office, the Iranians have said that Tahbaz is only having an ankle tag installed and will be released home shortly.
It said that anything other than a return home in the coming hours would be considered a breach of the commitments made by the Iranians, and that it was working with the Americans to secure his release, The Guardian reported.
His family said he was taken from the family home in Tehran in a black car with three armed guards.
A family member told The Guardian: “An armed guard was present in the family home, and the visit was first for 10 hours and then extended to 24 hours and finally to 48 hours. It was never a proper furlough, but a short family visit.”
Efforts by the British ambassador to Tehran to visit Tahbaz failed.
The exact understanding between the two countries over the conditions of his furlough have not been revealed.
While the UK managed to broker a deal for the release of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori, extracting Tahbaz proved more difficult because of his US nationality.
