The Foreign Office said Iran had “failed to honour” a commitment to release Morad Tahbaz.
Image source, PA Media
The daughter of a British-US national detained by Iran has held a protest outside the Foreign Office to urge the government to bring her father home.
London-born Morad Tahbaz, 66, was returned to custody after being allowed out on furlough in March, on the day Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was freed.
His daughter Roxanne said her family felt abandoned by the UK government.
The Foreign Office said Iran had “failed to honour” a commitment to release Mr Tahbaz indefinitely.
In March, the UK said it had secured Mr Tahbaz’s furlough, along with the release and return of Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori, after agreeing to settle a £400m debt with Iran.
However, two days later Mr Tahbaz was forced to return to Evin Prison.
Speaking at the demonstration outside the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), Ms Tahbaz said her family had been led to believe her father would be included in any deal negotiated with Iran.
She also revealed her mother had been placed under a travel ban by the Iranian authorities.
“It’s been one month since Nazanin and Anoosheh have come home, and my father’s still sitting in prison and my mother’s still on a travel ban,” Mr Tahbaz’s daughter said.
“So we’re hoping to have the press and the media help us to call on the government and on the Foreign Secretary (Liz) Truss to keep her promise and bring him home to us, so we can be reunited as a family.”
Mr Tahbaz, who also has Iranian citizenship, was arrested during a crackdown on environmental activists in January 2018.
A prominent conservationist, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison along with his colleagues on charges of spying for the US and undermining Iran’s security.
Image source, BBC/family photo
Asked when she last had contact with her father, Ms Tahbaz said: “Not for some time now, actually. We don’t have direct contact – it’s only on speakerphone through my mum, with another speakerphone.”
She added that her father had “made it very clear that he feels abandoned” by the UK government over its response to the situation.
An FCDO spokesperson said Iran had “committed to releasing Morad from prison on an indefinite furlough”, but had “failed to honour that commitment”.
“We continue to urge the Iranian authorities at every opportunity to release him immediately.”
