Freed American reveals brutal Iran prison ordeal, warns hostages face greater danger

For astir six years, American conservationist Morad Tahbaz lived successful what helium described arsenic hellhole wrong Iran’s situation system. The worst 4 months were spent wholly unsocial successful a tiny cell, beneath a agleam airy that ne'er went dark.

Tahbaz was held successful Ward 2A of Iran’s Evin Prison, which helium described arsenic a high-security detention installation controlled by the quality subdivision of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

He was allowed retired lone doubly a time for astir 10 minutes and was forced to deterioration a blindfold whenever helium left, Tahbaz told Fox News Digital. His play telephone with his woman lasted lone a fewer minutes and was monitored truthful intimately that an authoritative interrupted whenever helium spoke successful English.

"This is astir apt the harshest and toughest imprisonment that immoderate captive volition spell through," Tahbaz, who was yet released successful September 2023, told Fox News Digital of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps quality detention installation wrong Iran's Evin Prison.

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Morad Tahbaz, an Iranian American conservationist, successful Golestan National Park, Iran. Tahbaz spent astir six years successful Iran’s Evin Prison earlier being released with 4 different Americans successful September 2023. (Morad Tahbaz)

Tahbaz was surviving and moving successful Iran arsenic a conservationist erstwhile authorities arrested him alongside respective colleagues successful January 2018. He had co-founded the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation, which worked to support endangered taxon including the Asiatic cheetah and Persian leopard.

One of the accusations leveled against him, Tahbaz said, was that helium had trained lizards to spy connected Iranian subject installations for Israel.

"You can’t marque this worldly up," Tahbaz said successful the Zoom interrogation with Fox News Digital. "It conscionable gives you an thought of the benignant of communicative that this authorities comes up with. They’ll travel up with anything."

What began with interrogations successful January 2018 turned into astir six years of imprisonment for the Iranian American conservationist.

Now escaped and backmost successful his location successful the U.S., Tahbaz fears the warfare betwixt the United States and Iran could marque the Americans inactive held by Iran some much susceptible and much invaluable arsenic negotiating assets.

"I bash deliberation the strikes successful Iran volition person an interaction connected the hostages’ concern and their circumstances," helium said.

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Morad Tahbaz reunites with his household pursuing his merchandise from Iran successful September 2023. (Morad Tahnaz)

Tahbaz said helium spent his archetypal 2 years wrong the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps quality installation astatine Evin.

After his conviction, Tahbaz was transferred into the wide situation population. He said his cellmates ranged from suspected ISIS members to erstwhile Iranian authorities ministers.

The isolation and carnal conditions were accompanied by changeless uncertainty.

"The uncertainty erstwhile you are a hostage is not similar you deliberation astatine the extremity of your condemnation they’ll needfully fto you go," Tahbaz said. "They’ll conscionable travel up with different complaint to support you determination for arsenic agelong arsenic you’re of worth to them."

Tahbaz was released Sept. 18, 2023, with 4 different Americans successful a Qatar-mediated statement betwixt Washington and Iran. The speech besides progressive 5 Iranians held by the United States and the transportation of $6 cardinal successful antecedently frozen Iranian funds into a restricted relationship for humanitarian transactions.

The dialog brought Tahbaz home, but helium believes Western governments person failed to found consequences beardown capable to halt Iran from detaining much overseas and dual nationals.

"This concern of hostage-taking has been going connected fundamentally since the opening of the revolution," helium said.

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Freed hostage Morad Tahbaz surrounded by his household conscionable aft landing successful the U.S., September 2023. (Morad Tahbaz)

"It volition continue, successful my opinion, arsenic agelong arsenic determination is nary deterrence," Tahbaz added. "None of the Western governments, successful reality, person done thing important astir stopping this practice."

The contented returned to the forefront successful July with the merchandise of Dena Karari, a 53-year-old Iranian American from California.

Karari had been incapable to permission Iran since December 2024 aft authorities confiscated her passports. Her lawyer said she faced allegations of espionage and collaboration with a hostile state. President Donald Trump announced successful July that she had been allowed to permission and called the determination a "gesture of goodwill."

Karari was not continuously imprisoned, according to reporting astir her case, but she remained nether an exit prohibition and was repeatedly interrogated.

Her merchandise offered alleviation during a widening conflict, but Tahbaz said dual nationals stay peculiarly susceptible due to the fact that Iran does not admit their overseas citizenship.

"Iran doesn’t admit immoderate different nationality different than the Iranian," helium said.

Authorities tin make a national-security case, unafraid a condemnation and past sphere the captive for usage successful aboriginal negotiations, Tahbaz said.

"You’re condemned and they walk condemnation and you’re successful the system, and present you are a bargaining chip," helium said.

The precise fig of Americans presently imprisoned oregon prevented from leaving Iran remains unclear.

Reuters reported successful March that astatine slightest six U.S. citizens oregon imperishable residents were detained successful Iran, including writer Reza Valizadeh, businessman Kamran Hekmati and U.S. imperishable nonmigratory Shahab Dalili.

Valizadeh, a erstwhile Radio Farda journalist, was sentenced to 10 years for allegedly collaborating with a hostile government. Hekmati was sentenced to 2 years for having visited Israel much than a decennary earlier, according to his family. Dalili, who was arrested aft traveling to Iran for his father’s funeral, was sentenced to 10 years for allegedly cooperating with a hostile government.

Advocates warned that escalating strikes could summation the hazard that detainees would beryllium harmed oregon utilized arsenic leverage.

The State Department formally designated Hekmati, who has bladder cancer, arsenic wrongfully detained successful March.

Tahbaz said helium believes 3 Americans stay successful custody, though that fig could not beryllium independently confirmed. Some cases are deliberately kept backstage due to the fact that families fearfulness publicity could summation the information to detainees.

His concerns astir the existent warfare are rooted successful however Iranian interrogators responded to tensions with Washington during his ain imprisonment.

"When I was taken successful in January of 2018, and it was close astatine the opening of the archetypal Trump administration, the magnitude of vexation and choler astatine the rollback of the JCPOA astatine that time, I mean, it was thrown into my look conscionable astir each time of my interrogation successful immoderate way, signifier oregon form," Tahbaz said, referring to a 2015 atomic deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. 

The United States formally withdrew from the 2015 atomic agreement, known arsenic the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, successful May 2018, respective months aft Tahbaz’s arrest.

Tahbaz believes the existent struggle could likewise beryllium transferred onto prisoners who person nary power implicit decisions made successful Washington.

"It decidedly volition worsen the lawsuit of prisoners successful custody and those who whitethorn beryllium conscionable nether surveillance oregon imaginable hostages," helium said.

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Morad Tahbaz with Eskandar Firouz, the founding caput of Iran’s Department of the Environment, astatine Lar National Park successful Iran. Firouz, who was imprisoned for six years pursuing the 1979 revolution, died respective years aft the photograph was taken. (Morad Tahbaz)

He described prisoners arsenic 1 much root of leverage successful Iran’s broader confrontation with the United States.

"You’re seeing that playing retired adjacent with the war, this tit for tat, you bash this, we’ll bash that," helium said.

"The hostages are, you know, conscionable a commodity from Iran’s perspective, to beryllium utilized astatine the close time."

Tahbaz’s acquisition with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps besides shapes his investigation of the conflict unfolding wrong Iran.

He stressed that helium is not a governmental expert and described his conclusions arsenic idiosyncratic assessments based connected his acquisition and conversations with contacts acquainted with the country.

Tahbaz said helium believes competing interests wrong the Revolutionary Guard are warring to sphere their governmental and economical power.

He pointed specifically to Khatam al-Anbiya, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' engineering and operation conglomerate. Tahbaz argued that sanctions person benefited almighty IRGC-linked entities by forcing lipid sales, imports and wealth transfers into opaque achromatic and grey markets.

"They person created a immense franchise for themselves due to the fact that of these sanctions," helium said.

"They don’t privation to spot the sanctions spell away, due to the fact that they volition suffer their franchise, if you will. They volition suffer their power, their power implicit the wealth and everything that goes on with it."

He said mean Iranians person suffered astir from the resulting economical isolation and wartime conditions.

"The radical who are wounded astir by each of this are the radical of Iran," Tahbaz said. "They’re unluckily taking the brunt of each of these successful their regular lives."

Tahbaz predicted Iranians would yet instrumentality to the streets, but said galore had mislaid assurance that Western governments would intervene to assistance region the regime.

"I’m definite they’ll beryllium backmost connected the streets," helium said. "But I deliberation this conception that the Western states are going to measurement successful and assistance them overthrow this regime, that went retired the window."

Tahbaz said galore Iranians had antecedently been powerfully sympathetic toward the United States and initially hoped the struggle mightiness extremity the Islamic Republic. That characterization reflects his appraisal and conversations and could not beryllium independently quantified.

He believes immoderate aboriginal governmental question volition person to make chiefly wrong Iran alternatively than being directed by absorption groups abroad.

"There’s a batch of hatred and choler conscionable boiling there," Tahbaz said. "So it volition boil up and implicit again without a doubt. The question is when, how, but it volition hap again."

Tahbaz is recounting his imprisonment successful his caller book, "Green Parrots: A Memoir of Survival successful Iran’s Evin Prison," scheduled for work Sept. 29. The steadfast says the publication describes however helium relied connected skills developed portion tracking endangered wildlife to past astir six years successful Evin, including solitary confinement.

His merchandise illustrates the contradiction confronting governments trying to retrieve their citizens: negotiations tin bring idiosyncratic prisoners home, but Tahbaz believes the broader signifier volition proceed unless Iran faces meaningful deterrence for taking them.

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Military members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) successful occidental Tehran, Iran (Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

He survived due to the fact that governments yet negotiated for his freedom.

His informing is that arsenic the warfare intensifies, the Americans inactive held successful Iran could go much invaluable to Tehran astatine precisely the infinitesimal their circumstances go much dangerous.