...Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979...and the United Kingdom has been returned to custody and today was transferred to a hotel, the British government says.
Iranian prison officials let the long-held 66-year-old environmentalist, Morad Tahbaz, leave jail on a furlough last Wednesday, the same day as two high-profile British citizens who were tossed into the calaboose in Iran for more than five years were freed and flown home to Britannia.
The UK said it secured Tahbaz’s furlough, along with the release and return of charity worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and retired civil engineer Anoosheh Ashoori, after settling a long-standing debt to Iran that had fueled tensions between the countries for decades.
But barely two days after Tahbaz left jail and headed to his family’s home in Tehran, Iranian security forces forced him to return to Evin Prison, his Tehran-based lawyer says.
"Unfortunately, we have no idea if or when he is going to be released," Hojjat Kermani tells The News Agency that Dare Not be Named. "He is back in Evin for the time being."
Iranian officials and state-run media are not acknowledging Tahbaz’s return to prison. Iran’s mission to the United Nations
...boodling on the grand scale...
also is not immediately responding to a request for comment, nor are officials in Iran’s judiciary office.
The State Department said that it is aware of reports that Tahbaz has been returned to prison, allegedly to be fitted with an ankle tag.
However,
the hip bone's connected to the leg bone...
Tahbaz’s lawyer says he "was not informed about any ankle tag," and two days later remains behind bars without any update.
"Iran made a commitment to the UK to furlough Morad Tahbaz," the State Department says. "We are not a party to this arrangement, but would join the UK in considering anything short of Morad’s immediate furlough a violation of Iran’s commitment."
The statement adds: "We are urgently consulting with the UK on appropriate responses."
Iranian security forces arrested Tahbaz in January 2018, as part of wide crackdown targeting environmental activists in the Islamic Theocratic
Republic.