(CNN) Abbas Edalat, a British-Iranian professor who was arrested and detained in Iran for eight months, has returned to the UK, according to British authorities.

"We can confirm that a British-Iranian dual national who was detained in Tehran has returned to the UK," a UK Foreign Office representative told CNN on Wednesday. "We continue to take action on all our consular cases in Iran in line with what we believe will produce the best outcomes in their cases."

Iranian security forces arrested Edalat in April on security charges after he was accused of being part of a British-affiliated, anti-Iran group that allegedly launched espionage operations and had contacts with leaders of mass anti-government protests in 2009, according to Iran's semiofficial Fars news agency.

No further details on the charges were given, and the group that Edalat was accused of being affiliated with was not identified.

Edalat, an award-winning Imperial College London professor of computer science and mathematics, is a prominent activist who founded the Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran in 2005.

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