British mother, 39, makes desperate plea for return of her two-year-old son after he was abducted by his father and taken to Iran

• Heartbroken mother Tina Kayani has pleaded for her two-year-old toddler to be brought home after he was abducted from Sheffield by his father
• Toddler Cole Saheb was snatched during a contact visit by Farokh Mahmodpour 
• The 39-year-old took the child in March last year after returning from Iran 
• He has since sent WhatsApps to the mother but refuses to say where the boy is
• Tina said she had been left depressed and feeling suicidal by the abduction 

A heartbroken British mother has made a desperate plea for her two-year-old son to be brought home after he was abducted and taken to Iran by his father. 

Tina Kayani’s toddler Cole Louise Saheb, who turns three next Friday, was snatched by 39-year-old Farokh Mahmodpour during a contact visit in March last year.

The father, who had spent 15 years working in takeaways in the Sheffield area, has since sent photos of the young boy to the 40-year-old mother but refused to say where he is. 

A heartbroken mother has made a desperate plea for her two-year-old son to be brought home after he was abducted and taken to Iran by his father. Cole Louise Saheb (pictured above on a slide) vanished during a contact visit with his father in March last year

Mother Tina Kayani (pictured holding an image of her son, who turns three next Friday) has made a desperate plea for his return and says her hair is falling out because of the stress

The toddler was taken by 39-year-old father Farokh Mahmodpour (pictured). He worked in takeaways in the Sheffield area for 15 years before leaving for Iran shortly before Cole was born. He then returned and won the right to see his son through the courts

In menacing WhatsApp messages the father said she won’t see her son again until he turns 18.

In one cruel message he sent a picture of her curly-haired boy smiling before writing ‘bye bye’ at the bottom.

And in another he said he had changed both their names. 

The mother-of-three, who reported her son’s abduction to South Yorkshire Police on the day that he disappeared, said she had been left feeling hopeless and suicidal.

Wiping away tears she said she was ‘devastated’ by what her ex had done and is worried about how long it is taking her to get Cole back.

‘I feel like I’m grieving,’ she pleaded, ‘I know Cole isn’t dead but it’s that feeling that I’m not going to see him again’.

‘It’s like he has taken the light out of my life. I’ve been robbed of this precious time with my son.

‘I don’t know if he is talking, if all his teeth have come through, if he is at nursery, if he is still cheeky. 

Cole pictured sitting on a sofa. In menacing WhatsApp messages his father said that Tina would not see the boy again until he turns 18, and that he had changed both their names

The father is also refusing to say where Cole (pictured) and himself are. The mother-of-three said that his actions have ‘robbed her’ of these precious moments with her son

She said that his abduction has affected her entire family. ‘It’s like we are stuck’, she said, ‘we can’t do anything but wait for some kind of development and all we have is hope that one day Cole will be brought back home’

‘I am depressed, I have anxiety and my hair is falling out through the stress of all this. It has affected my entire family. 

‘It is like we are stuck, we can’t do anything but wait for some kind of development and all we have is hope that one day Cole will be brought back home.

‘I am worried that he will not remember me, that he will not speak our language, what lies his dad might have been telling him about me,’ she said.

‘Although Freddie sends the odd photograph and I can at least see that Cole looks happy and cared for, he needs to be back here with his mum. Children need their mum.

‘The length of time it is taking is absolutely agonising and so frustrating because all I can do is sit here and wait for news and hope that his dad does the right thing and bring him back home, but the longer this goes on, I know that won’t happen.’

Tina had been concerned that the father would try to take the child, but was assured by authorities that it would not be possible for him to leave the country with him without a passport.

Tina also said she was worried that Cole would not remember her or be able to speak her language as he has been taken away. She said the father has ‘sporadically’ sent her the odd photograph showing that her son is well

Cole pictured in a paddling pool. Tina was concerned that her son’s father would try to take the child away but was told by authorities that this wouldn’t happen as they would need a passport to leave the country

The toddler photographed on a donkey. Tina had been in a six-year relationship with Farokh which ended in 2015 after it emerged that she was pregnant. At the time he said that he did not want to have the child

She started a six-year relationship with Farokh while he was working in takeaways before splitting in 2015 because Tina became pregnant. 

‘The ironic thing is that when I became pregnant Freddie did not want the baby and even offered me £1,000 in cash to have a termination’, she said. 

‘I threw the notes back in his face. I had the scan pictures, I would have felt like a murderer, I could never have done that.’

Farokh returned to Iran before Cole was born, leaving his mother to give birth and raise her son singlehandedly for the first four months.

However, he then returned to Sheffield and was granted contact visits with the child through the courts, with a ban on him leaving the country with the boy.

They started through a mediation centre before he was then allowed to spend two nights a week with him. 

On the last day she saw him, over a year ago, she said ‘I love you, have a good time with daddy’ before letting him go to his contact session.

Letters later unearthed at Farokh’s house revealed that he had been planning the abduction for a year.

Speaking about her relationship, Tina said at the time it appeared to be ‘perfect’.

‘But looking back’, she said, ‘I never knew anything about him’.

‘I never knew where he was from, he told me very little about his family and he had secret conversations in his own language, so when he took Cole I had no idea where to start looking.’ 

Tina said that Farokh offered her £1,000 to have a termination but she refused. He went back to Iran for the birth and left the mother raising her son single-handedly for the first four months

Cole Saheb pictured among trees. The family is hoping to set up a crowdfunding page for help to pay for legal fees in Iran and is looking for a volunteer to run Facebook and Twitter accounts to publicise the abduction

The mother has contacted her MP Gill Furniss, who sought help from the minister of state at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

She has also been in touch with the charity Reunite, which specialises in parental abduction cases and the movement of children across international borders. 

But with authorities so far unable to trace young Cole and his father and, with Farokh ignoring court orders to return the child to Britain, Tina said she feels ‘helpless’ and at times suicidal. 

Left with just her memories of Cole and photographs she sporadically receives from Farokh, Tina said she is desperate to hold her son again.

She is urging anyone who knows her ex to get in touch to help the authorities track her son down.

‘He lived in Sheffield for 15 years and worked in takeaways so lots of people will know him. I am begging them to come forward if they have any information or clue which could help me find my son,’ she said.

Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough MP Gill Furniss said: ‘This is a tragic case and I cannot imagine the suffering Tina is going through during this deeply difficult time.

‘My team and I have been in touch with Tina and her legal representatives and I am doing everything I can to raise the matter at the highest level in Government.

‘I am meeting the minister next week to discuss this with him and I will continue to fight to bring Cole back home and reunited with his mother as soon as possible.’

A Foreign and Commonweath Office spokesman said: ‘Our staff are assisting the mother of a British child who was taken to Iran by his father in 2018.’

The family is hoping to set up a crowdfunding page for help to pay for legal fees in Iran and is looking for a volunteer to run Facebook and Twitter accounts to publicise the abduction.

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