Morad co-founded the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation in 2008, and he has also written a number of academic papers on the conservation and environmental challenges facing Iran.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Since their arrest, one of the conservationists \u2013 <\/span>Kavous Seyed-Emami<\/span><\/a> \u2013 died in custody in unexplained circumstances.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Though all deny the claims of Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (usually known as the Revolutionary Guard or IRGC) that they\u2019d been passing classified information to the USA, it\u2019s still not exactly clear why they have been detained.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

According to Eugene M Chudnovsky, co-chair of the Committee of Concerned Scientists and professor of physics and astronomy at the City University of New York, the Revolutionary Guard has been locking up environmentalists because they fear they may know, as a result of their work in remote areas, where radioactive and toxic material has been leaking out of installations and into the environment.<\/span><\/p> <\/div>\n

\u201cThey do not want environmentalists wandering around with their cameras recording clandestine activities,\u201d Chudnovsky said in an email. \u201cTahbaz belongs to a sizeable group of dual-citizen prisoners that are held hostage for future swaps for Iranian officers arrested abroad,\u201d he added.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Other sources have suggested the release of the prisoners is linked to a potential US-Iran nuclear deal that would see the lifting of economic sanctions.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Exactly, what this means for the Asiatic cheetah population is anybody\u2019s guess. It\u2019s almost certain that no monitoring work has been carried out over the past four years, and this can only have increased the fragility of an already fragile population.<\/span><\/p>\n

Naybandan Wildlife Reserve, Iran \u00a9 Franz Lanting<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/body><\/html>\n