An Iranian sex toy smuggler has successfully won an appeal against his deportation and has been granted asylum in the UK. Originally the unmanned man told a lower-tier immigration tribunal that his illicit business activities could land him in trouble with the Iranian authorities.

He claimed he smuggled boxes of vibrators and other adult devices into Iran, which are banned in the country and illegal under Islamic law. As part of his argument, the man said his illegal activities had come to the "adverse attention" of the Iranian authorities.

However, the tribunal dismissed his claims, saying he had given “inconsistent evidence about the number of boxes he smuggled”.

In court papers seen by the Telegraph, the tribunal said: “The circumstances in which it was claimed that the authorities had identified him from material he had left behind were found to be implausible."

The tribunal also dismissed the man's argument that he would face persecution for his protests against the regime in Iran.

It claimed his presence at protests and his anti-Iran Facebook posts were not genuine and were a ruse aimed at helping him attain refugee status.

The Iranian subsequently appealed the decision at an upper-tier immigration tribunal, this time on the grounds that he would face persecution for his political protests.

The upper tribunal found in his favour and granted him asylum, acknowledging that he faced a real threat of persecution if he was returned.

To return the man to Iran in such circumstances would constitute a breach of his human rights under the Refugee Convention, the tribunal argued.

Upper Tribunal Judge Paul Lodato said: “My starting point must be that I should approach the evidence with a degree of caution because he is a man who has been found to have contrived an elaborate and false narrative about the events he claims caused him to flee Iran.

“I have examined [the Iranian man’s] Facebook with care. It reveals a consistent and committed outpouring of political opinion over a considerable period.

"It can be seen that he has been posting anti-regime and pro-Kurdish rhetoric on a regular basis since October 2021.

“I have carefully considered the timing of his posts to assess whether his political opinions betrayed the mechanical and routine postings which might be expected of a metronomic and cynical excise designed to bolster a false asylum claim.

“I could discern no such patterns. Instead, the frequency resonated with a more natural engagement with political social media of this nature.”

Accordingly, the judge found that the Iranian would face “real risk of persecution”.