Skip to main content

Iran grants bail to American conservationist jailed on espionage charges, report says

Iran has granted bail to Iranian-American conservationist, Morad Tahbaz, after he was convicted of security offenses, according to the semi-official Iranian ILNA news agency.

Tahbaz, who also holds British citizenship, was arrested in 2018 and sentenced to 10 years in prison for "contact with the enemy U.S. government." The punishment was part of a crackdown on those with dual citizenship amid tensions with the U.S. and other western nations.

"Mr. Tahbaz was released on bail and with an electronic bracelet," ILNA quoted Tahbaz’s lawyer, Hojjat Kermani, as saying on Wednesday.

The report of Tahbaz’s bail comes a day after European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said he put forward a new draft to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

US HIGHLIGHTS ADVANTAGES OF NUCLEAR DEAL, BUT ACKNOWLEDGES STALL WITH IRAN

Tahbaz is one of the dozens of dual nationals and foreigners who have been arrested in Iran in recent years on espionage charges. 

U.S. government officials have said that at the time of his arrest, Tahbaz was working in Iran on conservation causes with the endorsement of the United Nations Development Program and had been granted government permits.

Tahbaz has been admired for his work to help save endangered species, including the Asiatic cheetah. There are believed to be fewer than 50 Asiatic cheetahs left in the world, and all are located in Iran.



from Fox News https://ift.tt/yKUcsF9
via IFTTT
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

China begins discouraging abortions and promoting fertility treatment as birth rate plummets

China will discourage abortions and take steps to make fertility treatment more accessible as part of efforts to boost one of the world's lowest birth rates , its National Health Authority said on Tuesday. Support measures from taxation and insurance to education and housing would be improved and implemented, with local governments encouraged to boost infant care services and family friendly workplaces, according to guidelines published on the authority's website. The authority said it would carry out reproductive health promotion to enhance public awareness while "preventing unintended pregnancy and reducing abortions that are not medically necessary." VIRUS TESTING THE NEW NORMAL AS CHINA STICKS TO ‘ZERO-COVID’ China's fertility rate of 1.16 in 2021 was far below the 2.1 OECD standard for a stable population and among the lowest in the world. The guidelines come as China's uncompromising "zero-COVID" policy of curbing outbreaks with strict co...
Post a Comment
Read more

China reaffirms threat of military force to annex Taiwan

China on Wednesday reaffirmed its threat to use military force to bring self-governing Taiwan under its control, amid threatening Chinese military exercises that have raised tensions between the sides to their highest level in years. The lengthy policy statement issued by the Cabinet’s Taiwan Affairs Office and its news department followed almost a week of missile firings and incursions into Taiwanese waters and airspace by Chinese warships and air force planes. The actions have disrupted flights and shipping in a region crucial to global supply chains, prompting strong condemnation from the U.S., Japan and others. An English-language version of the Chinese statement said Beijing would "work with the greatest sincerity and exert our utmost efforts to achieve peaceful reunification." TAIWAN SAYS CHINA MILITARY DRILLS PART OF PLAN FOR IMPENDING INVASION "But we will not renounce the use of force, and we reserve the option of taking all necessary measures. This is to ...
Post a Comment
Read more

The rapid rise of 'red tourism' in China

Growing up in Guang'an, Zhang Yiwen always felt a closeness to late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping, who spent the first 15 years of his life in her home city in the country's western province of Sichuan.
Post a Comment
Read more