A FORMER university academic and diplomat accused of conspiring to smuggle arms to Iran will not be extradited to the US, after the Home Office dropped its case against him.

Nosratollah Tajik, a former teacher at Durham University’s Institute for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies and Iranian ambassador to Jordan, has been living under the threat of extradition since being arrested in a raid on his home in Coxhoe, County Durham, in October 2006.

The married father-of-two, who now lives in London, has been under house arrest, subject to curfew and electronically tagged.

Last month, High Court judges ruled the UK government had failed to show reasonable cause for the delays in his case being progressed.

The Home Secretary and the US government were given 14 days in which they could have appealed the decision to the Supreme Court.

However, that deadline expired today (Tuesday, December 11) and a Home Office spokeswoman said: “The High Court judgement has been fully considered and legal advice has concluded that there are no grounds to seek leave to appeal to the Supreme Court.”

Karen Todner, Mr Tajik’s lawyer, said she would now try to have him formally discharged from extradition at City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Thursday afternoon.

Commenting on the Home Office announcement, she said: “I think it was a sensible decision because the Home Office were not able to give any reasonable account for the delay given by the American government in the High Court.

“Mr Tajik is absolutely delighted and probably planning to return to Iran very soon.”

Mr Tajik’s arrest followed an undercover sting operation in London, during which US Department of Homeland Security agents pretended to be co-conspirators.

Last year, Wikileaks published a US diplomatic cable suggesting the UK government put his extradition on hold to protect sensitive nuclear talks.

However, the High Court heard the delay was due to fears over UK-Iran relations and the safety of British Embassy staff in Tehran.

If Mr Tajik had been extradited and convicted, he could have been jailed for up to ten years. He is known to have heart and other health problems.