LONDON: A British-Iranian scientist detained in Tehran in April for his alleged role in an “infiltration network” has returned to London, the Foreign Office said on Tuesday.
“We can confirm that a British-Iranian dual national who was detained in Tehran has returned to the UK,” the Foreign Office said in a statement, when asked about Abbas Edalat.
Edalat, a professor of computer science and mathematics at Imperial College London, was arrested by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, which raided his home and confiscated his computer, according to the New York-based Centre for Human Rights in Iran.
The Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran (CASMII) charity that Edalat founded said he returned to Britain last week.
Edalat’s arrest and jailing was “a case of misinformation and misunderstanding by the Iranian security apparatus,” CASMII said on its website. The Foreign Office did not disclose details of the academic’s release.
British-Iranian charity worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arrested in Tehran in April 2016 and is serving a five-year jail sentence for sedition — a charge she has denied.
“We continue to take action on all our consular cases in Iran in line with what we believe will produce the best outcomes in their cases,” the Foreign Office said.