UK-US dual citizen returned to prison in Iran after brief furlough

A dual British-US national temporarily released from prison last week as part of a deal between Iran and the United Kingdom was taken back into custody just two days later, his lawyer 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 had been detained in Iran for more than five years were freed and flown home to Britain.

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 Associated Press. “He is back in Evin for the time being.”