Kameel Ahmady, who holds duel Britain-Iranian citizenship, was detained at his home in Tehran on Sunday, his wife. Mr Ahmady has written books about issues that are considered controversial in Iran, such as women’s rights and child marriage. Wife, Shafagh Rahmani, said Mr Ahmady faces a number of charges but prosecutors from the infamous Evin Prison where he is being held is yet to provide any reasons for his arrest.
She told the BBC: “Security agents came to our house and took away documents, including his ID card.”
She added that he has lived in Tehran for the past 15 years.
The Foreign Office has not yet commented on the case
His arrest comes during a period of extreme tension between the UK and Iran.
The Foreign Office has not yet commented on the case (Image: GETTY)
Kameel Ahmady, who holds duel Britain-Iranian citizenship, was detained at his home (Image: INSTAGRAM)
This was caused by the capture of the Stena Impero, a British-flagged oil vessel from Sweden but managed by a firm in Scotland.
The vessel was captured by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard on July 19 while it sailed through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow and volatile shipping channel.
The crew, of Indian, Pakistani and Russian descent, remain in Iran, as does the vessel.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has demanded the ship be returned, but Tehran is yet to do so.
READ MORE: Iran tensions soar as THIRD Navy warship sent to Strait of Hormuz
They have denied the capture of the vessel was done in retaliation for British-owned Gibraltar seizing Grace 1, an oil tanker from Iran that was detained for violating EU sanctions on oil in Syria.
The ship was detained two weeks before the Stena Impero was captured.
Mr Ahmady is being held in the same facility as Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.
The British-Iranian mother being held in a Tehran prison and ihas been on several hunger strikes as a result of her treatment.
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Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arrested in 2016 (Image: GETTY)
The charity worker is serving a five-year sentence at Evin prison after being convicted of spying, an accusation she has repeatedly denied.
Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s latest hunger strike comes after her daughter Gabriella, who is living with her maternal grandparents in Iran, celebrated her fifth birthday.
In a statement, husband Richard Ratcliffe said: “Nazanin had vowed that if we passed Gabriella’s fifth birthday with her still inside, then she would do something – to mark to both governments that ‘enough is enough’.
“This really has gone on too long.”
It came after British-owned Gibraltar seizing Grace 1, an oil tanker from Iran (Image: GETTY)
Mr Ratcliffe, of West Hampstead in London, is also fasting in solidarity with his wife, who is only drinking water.
Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arrested and jailed in 2016 at Imam Khomeini Airport in Tehran as she tried to board a plane back to the UK with her daughter.
The UK-Iranian dual citizen had been visiting relatives with her child, who has not been allowed to leave Iran.
As a result, Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s daughter has been staying with her grandparents.
The vessel is yet to be returned (Image: GETTY)
Mr Ratcliffe said he spoke to his wife on the phone today and she sounded “nervous, but calm”.
He said: “Her demand from the strike, she said, is for unconditional release. She has long been eligible for it.”
In January Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe conducted a hunger strike after she said prison officials were refusing her access to medical care after a breast cancer scare.
She ended the fast after losing 3kg in three days.