Morad Tahbaz “was released on bond and with an electronic bracelet,” his attorney Hojat Kermani was cited as saying a day after the EU’s chief of the foreign policy claimed he had submitted a fresh draught text to resurrect the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
A British-Iranian wildlife conservationist accused of security violations has been granted bail, according to his attorney.
Morad Tahbaz “was released on bond with an electronic bracelet,” his attorney Hojat Kermani was quoted as saying on Wednesday by the semi-official ILNA news agency.
It came one day after the EU’s foreign policy leader announced he had offered a fresh draught text to restore the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
The Foreign Office verified Mr. Tahbaz’s return to Tehran, the capital of Iran.
A representative stated, “The Tahbaz family has confirmed Morad’s release from Evin prison on furlough and his presence in their Tehran residence.”
“Morad is a citizen of three countries, and we continue to work closely with the United States to urge the Iranian authorities to release him permanently and permit his departure from Iran.”
Mr. Tahbaz, who also has US citizenship, was arrested in 2018 and sentenced to 10 years in jail for “assembling and conspiring against Iran’s national security” and espionage for the United States.
In recent years, the Revolutionary Guards of Iran have arrested dozens of dual nationals and foreigners, primarily on espionage allegations.
Human rights organizations have accused Iran of using detainees as negotiation chips, but Tehran, which does not recognize dual nationality, denies using convicts as diplomatic leverage.
Mr. Tahbaz, 66, was granted a temporary furlough on the same day that the charity worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and the retired civil engineer Anoosheh Ashoori were allowed to escape Iran.
After Mr. Tahbaz was returned to prison in March, a Foreign Office spokeswoman reported that Iran had informed them that Mr. Tahbaz had been remanded to Evin prison to receive an ankle bracelet and would be released in the following hours.
Along with Ms. Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Mr. Ashoori, the daughter of Mr. Tahbaz expressed her dismay at the government’s failure to bring her father home.
Roxanne, his daughter, stated that her family was persuaded to believe he would be a part of any transaction being negotiated at the time.
The United Kingdom announced in March that it had achieved Mr. Tahbaz’s release after the government finally agreed to clear Iran’s £400 million debt from the 1970s. He was compelled to return to Evin prison two days later.
