Morad Tahbaz: Nazanin demands release of Brit wildlife conservationist on hunger strike in Iran jail

Freed Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has called for the release of another British national who remains imprisoned in Iran.

Wildlife conservationist Morad Tahbaz, 66, has gone on hunger strike after being forced back into prison after a brief 'furlough', his sister has said.

The British-US national, who also holds Iranian citizenship, was taken back into custody after originally being allowed out on furlough last week.

He was released temporarily from Tehran's notorious Evin Prison as British mother Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was released and allowed to return to the UK.

His family claim they were led to believe that he would be part of the same release deal as Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori, his sister has said.

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe on Monday used her first media address since her return to the UK to draw attention to Mr Tahbaz's plight as she called for him to be freed too.

She called for a number of British nationals still in Iran to be freed, saying without their release “the meaning of freedom is never going to be complete”.

She told reporters: “I believe that the meaning of freedom is never going to be complete as to such time that all of us who are unjustly detained in Iran are reunited with our families.

“To begin with Morad, but also the other dual nationals, members of religious groups, or prisoners of conscience who are … I mean, we do realise that if I have been in prison for six years there are so many other people we don’t know their names who have been suffering in prison in Iran.”

At the time of Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's release, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said Mr Tahbaz had been released on "furlough" from jail, and that UK authorities were working to secure his departure from Iran.

Speaking to ITV News, Morad's daughter Roxanne said she had plenty of unanswered questions about why her father was being held.

"We don't have full clarity on why, they took him in 2018 and they sentenced him to ten years the following year and he's still there," Roxanne said.

"We were assured he would be released on furlough which has not been the case and my father is still in prison.

"We are hopeful politicians are working as hard as they can to bring him back to us, which is what we have been assured," she added.

Who is Morad Tahbaz?

The British-American businessman wildlife conservationist, who was born in Hammersmith, west London, was arrested and detained by Iran on suspicion of espionage after using cameras to track endangered species.

He is described by Amnesty International UK as a "prisoner of conscience," among a group of scientists accused by Iran of espionage over their activities tracking wildlife, including cheetahs.

The group had been conducting research into endangered animals, including the Asiatic cheetah and Persian leopard, in work linked to the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation.

Iran authorities accused the conservationists of using scientific and environmental projects, such as tracking the cheetah with cameras, as a cover to collect classified military information, Amnesty International said.