Dad of abducted Sheffield boy breaks his silence
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Cole Louis Saheb, who turned three last Friday, was snatched by his father and taken to Iran in March last year.
Farokh Mahmodpour Saheb, 39, abducted his son during an arranged contact visit and took him out of the UK without the youngster’s mum’s consent.
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Hide AdHeartbroken Tina Kayani, 40, from Fox Hill, reported her son missing to South Yorkshire Police and after officers investigated the case and established that Cole had been taken to Iran it was referred to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Sheffield MP Gill Furniss has a meeting with FCO officials this week.
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Hide AdFarokh, who was known as ‘Freddie’ during the 15 years he lived in South Yorkshire, has sent photographs of Cole to the Tina since he kidnapped him but refuses to say where the pair are living.
Authorities have so far been unable to trace young Cole and his father, with Farokh ignoring court orders to return the child to Britain.
But in emails sent to The Star, Farokh insists the youngster is safe.
“Of course my son is safe, can't you see that in pictures. My duty as a father is to keep him safe and comfortable,” he wrote.
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Hide AdHe revealed that he has not talked to Cole about his mother but will explain the situation to him when he is older.
He said: “I don't talk about his mother yet cos he's too small yet and don't want to confuse him but when he grows up of course I'm gonna talk about his mother.”
In the email, in broken English, he threatened to not send any more photographs of Cole to Tina, accusing her of ‘using the pictures against’ him after she publicised the abduction.
He said the reason he left Sheffield when Tina was pregnant and did not return until Cole was four months old was because he was ‘depressed’ when their relationship broke down.
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Hide AdHe wrote: “I got depression and needed to recover myself that's all.”
Farokh said he took his son out of the country because he feared for his and Cole’s safety in Sheffield.
“I thought I may get killed and wouldn't see my son forever then decided to leave the UK with my son and when he grows up and old enough get back to the UK again ... cos I die for my son and can't even imagine he gets hurt by someone or something,” he wrote.