Environmentalist Morad Tahbaz Released from Prison on Electronic Tag

The Iranian news website Emtedad reports that environmentalist Morad Tahbaz has been released on bail from Evin Prison.

Tahbaz, who holds British-Iranian-American triple nationality, was detained during a mass arrest of conservationists in early 2018. He was later sentenced to 10 years in prison on opaque charges of “contacts with the US government” and “acting against national security”.

The London-born 66-year-old was a co-founder of the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation. Several of his colleagues were also arrested in 2018 and the Foundation’s managing director, Kavous Seyed-Emami, died in custody that February.

Tahbaz’s family in the US believe he is being held as a hostage by Tehran. In March this year, after the release of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anousheh Ashouri, he was temporarily released on furlough but was then returned to prison under armed guard 48 hours later.

Hojjat Kermani, Tahbaz’s lawyer in Iran, confirmed to Emtedad on Wednesday that his client had been released on an electronic tag. He expressed hope that other political detainees so far denied their right to bail under Iranian law, such as Siamak Namazi, would soon be granted the same.