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Al-Monitor – Morad Tahbaz, a British-born American citizen held in Iran, was forced to return to Evin Prison, where a massive fire broke out earlier this month, his daughter confirmed to Al-Monitor on Wednesday.
The environmental activist, 66, was released on a three-month furlough in July, and had been staying at his in-laws’ apartment in Tehran with his wife, Vida Tahbaz, who was previously barred from leaving the country under the terms of her travel ban.
Tara Tahbaz hoped Iranian authorities would extend her father’s temporary furlough given the current unrest inside Iran, which has led to extreme overcrowding at Evin Prison.
“He called when he found out that he was going back just to say bye and ‘I love you,’ the same way it happened the first time,” she recalled. “It was like deja vu of all of the nightmares and all the pain happening again.”
Located in northern Tehran, the sprawling Evin Prison complex is believed to hold thousands of inmates, including foreign nationals used by Iran to extract concessions from the West.
Among them are Iranian-American businessmen Siamak Namazi and Emad Shargi, both of whom were convicted of espionage charges that the United States rejects as baseless. Tehran is also detaining US residents, including retired Iranian shipping official Shahab Dalili.
A fire at Evin Prison earlier this month left at least eight inmates dead and renewed pressure on the Biden administration to strike a deal with Iran to release the American detainees.
A State Department spokesperson told Al-Monitor that the administration was aware of reports that Tahbaz had been returned to prison but declined to comment further on his status, citing privacy considerations
“Simply put: Iran is unjustly detaining innocent Americans and others and should release them immediately,” the spokesperson added.
Tahbaz, a conservationist and entrepreneur, was jailed in January 2018 along with eight of his colleagues from the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation. The wildlife team deployed camera traps to monitor Asiatic cheetahs and other endangered species, which Iranian authorities said were used to spy on its military installations and obtain classified information.
In November 2019, Tahbaz was sentenced in a closed-door trial to 10 years in prison for illegal “contacts with the US enemy government” and “assembly and collusion against Iran’s national security.” During a family prison visit, the conservationist reportedly displayed signs of torture.
Tahbaz also holds British citizenship, but was not returned home as part of an Oman-facilitated deal between Iran and the United Kingdom in March that freed two British-Iranian prisoners, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori.
On Wednesday, British foreign office minister Tariq Ahmad called on Iran to release Tahbaz.
“We will continue to work closely with our US partners to hold Iran to account, and to secure Morad’s permanent release and departure from Iran,” Ahmad said in a statement.
