According to his lawyer Hojat Kermani, Morad Tahbaz, who is also a US citizen, spent 48 hours “under house arrest” wearing an ankle bracelet before being sent back to prison.
Tahbaz, an environmentalist first detained in January 2018, has been released from Evin prison “on leave to his home in Tehran,” British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said in a statement on Wednesday.
Tahbaz’s lawyer told CNN that “guards surrounded Morad’s house for 48 hours before returning him to prison.”
On Friday, a British Foreign Office spokesman said that “the Iranians told the UK government that Morad was taken to Evin to put on an ankle tag that was supposed to be put on before he was released. We hope he returns home soon.” hours. Morad Tahbaz is a tri-national and we are working closely with the United States to secure Morad’s eventual release.”
A US State Department spokesman also told CNN that “Iran has made a commitment to the UK to fire Morad Tahbaz. According to the UK Government, the UK has been informed that Morad has been returned to Evin Prison solely for an ankle tag, after which he will be allowed to go home.”
The spokesman added that the US is not “a party to this arrangement, but will join the UK in considering anything short of the immediate dismissal of Morad as a breach of Iran’s obligations.”
As of Saturday morning, CNN cannot confirm whether Tahbaz has been re-released from prison and placed under house arrest again.
The US is “urgently consulting” with the UK on relevant responses and said it continues to “work day and night to secure the release of our illegally detained citizens, including US and British citizen Morad Tahbaz.”
A State Department spokesman added: “To put it simply, Iran is unjustly detaining innocent Americans and others and should release them immediately.”
Following the release of Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Ashuri earlier this week, Truss announced that the UK had paid off a ten-year £400m ($524m) debt to Iran that Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian denied was linked to release from prison. on Wednesday.
Ramin Mostagim reported from Tehran, Celine Alkhaldi wrote from Abu Dhabi, Ruba Alhenawi and Maya Elinger wrote from Atlanta, Arnaud Siad wrote from London, and Jennifer Hansler wrote from the State Department. Jeevan Ravindran of CNN contributed to this report.