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Green Parrots: A Memoir of Survival in Iran's Evin Prison
In this extraordinary memoir, Tahbaz reveals how nearly six years in Evin Prison, including solitary confinement and torture, taught him that the skills he'd developed tracking Persian leopards and Asiatic cheetahs could save his own life.
When Iranian authorities arrested Morad Tahbaz in January 2018, they thought they were capturing a spy. They were wrong. Tahbaz was a conservationist—and they had handed him a new wilderness in which to survive. In this extraordinary memoir, Tahbaz reveals how nearly six years in Evin Prison, including solitary confinement and torture, taught him that the skills he'd developed tracking Persian leopards and Asiatic cheetahs could save his own life. He found forty-seven animals hidden in his cell's stone walls. He designed Persian carpets in his mind. And every dawn, he listened to the wild green parrots screaming in the prison's ancient poplars—proof that life persists even where designed to be denied. Green Parrots is not a victim's story. It's a survival manual for anyone facing darkness.
When Iranian authorities arrested Morad Tahbaz in January 2018, they thought they were capturing a spy. They were wrong. Tahbaz was a conservationist—and they had handed him a new wilderness in which to survive. In this extraordinary memoir, Tahbaz reveals how nearly six years in Evin Prison, including solitary confinement and torture, taught him that the skills he'd developed tracking Persian leopards and Asiatic cheetahs could save his own life. He found forty-seven animals hidden in his cell's stone walls. He designed Persian carpets in his mind. And every dawn, he listened to the wild green parrots screaming in the prison's ancient poplars—proof that life persists even where designed to be denied. Green Parrots is not a victim's story. It's a survival manual for anyone facing darkness.
240 pages, Hardcover
Published September 15, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 25, 2026
Environmental activists are frequently arrested in Iran and charged as foreign spies. For many years, I did not understand the connection between environmentalism and spying, but after learning about IRGCs many underground weapons production and ammunition-storage facilities in the country’s remote uninhabited areas, it now makes sense that security agencies were nervous about people traveling to jungles and deserts to investigate environmental conditions.
Wrongfully imprisoned in January 2018 for ~6 years, with charges of espionage, the author, who co-founded the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation to document endangered species including Asiatic cheetahs & Persian leopards across Iran, experienced firsthand the realities of the notorious Evin Prison, the fragility of civil society, and the human cost of hostage diplomacy. Since his release in September 2023, Tahbaz has become a thoughtful voice on Iran, wrongful detention, conservation, and the role of creativity in sustaining hope under extraordinary circumstances.
The book under review recounts what is ultimately a story about resilience. Throughout his imprisonment, Tahbaz turned to art as a means of survival, creating drawings, sculptures, and Persian-carpet designs inspired by Iran's wildlife & artistic traditions. Today, one of his sculptures is part of the permanent collection of NYC’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, underscoring the enduring connection between his creative work and the country that shaped it.
Wrongfully imprisoned in January 2018 for ~6 years, with charges of espionage, the author, who co-founded the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation to document endangered species including Asiatic cheetahs & Persian leopards across Iran, experienced firsthand the realities of the notorious Evin Prison, the fragility of civil society, and the human cost of hostage diplomacy. Since his release in September 2023, Tahbaz has become a thoughtful voice on Iran, wrongful detention, conservation, and the role of creativity in sustaining hope under extraordinary circumstances.
The book under review recounts what is ultimately a story about resilience. Throughout his imprisonment, Tahbaz turned to art as a means of survival, creating drawings, sculptures, and Persian-carpet designs inspired by Iran's wildlife & artistic traditions. Today, one of his sculptures is part of the permanent collection of NYC’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, underscoring the enduring connection between his creative work and the country that shaped it.
September 17, 2026
A powerful story, and surprisingly hopeful. This was a difficult but necessary read, bringing light to those who suffer for the political ambition and power of others.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews