Thread by @thetimes

Morad Tahbaz remained locked up when two British-Iranians were freed by Tehran last week. He’s become a political pawn, his daughter tells @marioledwith thetimes.co.uk/article/morad-…

As the aircraft was being prepared to bring back British political prisoners from Iran this month after years of negotiations, the Tahbaz family were told their nightmare was about to end

Yet days after their hopes had been raised, Morad Tahbaz had returned to “withering away” in a bleak Iranian prison cell having been caught up in what his relatives call “political chess”

Roxanne Tahbaz, the daughter of the British-born businessman and conservationist, has accused the British government of abandoning her father

She said that Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, reneged on a long-promised agreement to secure his release alongside his fellow British-Iranian prisoners Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori

Morad was detained by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard in January 2018 on suspicion of spying while on a trip to visit colleagues at the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation, which he had established years earlier

Roxanne told how the family began to receive assurances this month from British officials that the saga that had kept Morad in jail had been solved

However, the family were plunged into new turmoil as a plane left Iran two weeks ago with only Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Ashoori on board
thetimes.co.uk/article/nazani…

A back-up deal for Morad, who has British, Iranian and American citizenship, to be released on house arrest that was lauded by Truss fell through within 48 hours and he was sent back to prison
thetimes.co.uk/article/fears-…

Morad, who has cancer and twice contracted Covid in prison, is on the sixth day of a hunger strike. Roxanne said:

“He is feeling abandoned because in his mind, his government, his country, has left him behind and he is now sitting withering away feeling quite forsaken”

Although bittersweet to see the other hostages freed, Roxanne disclosed that Zaghari-Ratcliffe and her husband Richard have been quietly helping the Tahbaz family’s fight for justice

“Richard and Nazanin have been incredibly kind and generous with their guidance even in this moment when they haven’t seen each other in years,” she said. “They call and ask if we need anything else. Richard has kind of forged the way for us and has been a guide on this journey”

Roxanne reminded the government that it has a duty to protect British citizens. She said:

“We were assured and promised [that he would be released] and I expect and insist that those promises come to fruition, that it wasn’t just words. These are our lives”

Read the full story 👇
thetimes.co.uk/article/morad-…