When is she going to fire him? (Boris)

But he won’t will he? The price of a weak leader. I read somewhere the other day that Boris’ self regard is matched only by his incompetence. I swear I will throttle the next person who says ‘Ah but he’s very clever’.

Where's the evidence that he's 'clever' or 'very intelligent'?
All I can think of is he can speak Russian, and maybe because he has a quick wit.
He got an upper 2nd in classics from Oxford.

not sure about this case at all. There is definitely something odd going on. When they interviewed the husband he was not totally convincing.

I'm can't agree with the calls to sack Boris over this. (Sack him for other things, by all means). Iran has been arresting and detaining people with dual nationality for years and apparently, this is increasing according to Reuters. I'm not happy about giving Iran any leverage in who should be our Foreign Secretary by threatening to detain people for longer. I can't see how sacking Boris will help her or the others, I think it's likely to make things worse - better not to hand any influence to them.

I agree Primrose and also think that actually the furure over this may do the woman in prison some good, it has brought into the light this particular case, and Boris is in touch with his Iranian counterpart, wouldn't be surprised if they issued a pardon for her and released her next year.
We all know that you can be arrested and charged in Iran for having a coffee and chatting to what they call ‘the wrong people’ or a phone conversation, or almost anything.
What a country.

Very similar then to the laws in this country on radicalisation then lemongrove. Or is that different? Have you been to Iran or do you know any Iranians with families there? I'm not saying it's some sort of paradise but the media-led uninformed opinion that places Iran beyond the pale isn't really acceptable. Arguably Saudi Arabia has very similar restrictions, but they are never treated to the same condemnatory comments.

You are dead right trisher it’s not ‘some sort of paradise’
And that is all I will say to your post.

Oh go on, tell us more. When did you visit- would love to know all about it.

the media-led uninformed opinion that places Iran beyond the pale isn't really acceptable
Who does give an acceptable, informed opinion on Iran?

jura2......please put the wooden spoon away.

I haven't but have close friends with family there who have visited them. I rely more on them to know exactly what things are like. It really isn't acceptable to me that a country like Saudi Arabia with similar if not worse restrictions on human rights, with an appalling record on the bombing and destruction of children and families in Yemen is viewed sympathetically. Why? because they are an oil rich nation buying arms from us. Whereas a country that rejected US domination and influence is viewed as an enemy. To such an extent that the west was prepared to support and arm a dictator with chemical weapons in an attempt to destroy them. I hate the way general judgements are made and a country condemned. But of course balance and looking at an entire situation is much harder than simply saying -'bad country" isn't it.

'I agree Primrose and also think that actually the furure over this may do the woman in prison some good, it has brought into the light this particular case, and Boris is in touch with his Iranian counterpart, wouldn't be surprised if they issued a pardon for her and released her next year'....and, if that doesn't happen, her sentence may be doubled! Talk about playing Russian roulette with peoples lives. How would you feel if that was your daughter in prison? How on earth can you make excuses fir this embarrassment of a man?

Speaking Russian and getting an Upper 2nd even if it’s used as evidence of ‘cleverness’ whatever that means does not for one minute mean that you have any of the attributes or skills or moral strength of character to be a decent MP, good FS or PM. As BJ proves on a daily basis.The man has been sacked at least twice for being a liar.

Anya this man is not a professional PR person/politician. He’s an auditor. He hasn’t seen his DW and DD for 18 months! He is being supported by his MP but BJ won’t even meet with him or his MP. He is caught up in the middle of an absolute nightmare with no help from his Government.He deliberately kept a low profile in the early days because it was believed it would be helpful - now that that clown has made things so much worse,he’s appearing on the media. He’s quietly spoken and must be worried sick - how would you suggest he be ‘convinving’

Additionally the person the clown is speaking to does not have the power to affect the sentence.There is a power struggle in Iran and it’s the Revolutionary Guard who are in charge of her fate and that’s not who BJ talks to ( even assuming he’s telling the truth about that)

I'm not making excuses for his behaviour - if you read my post, I'm saying I don't want Iran to exert any influence on UK politics. Where did I make excuses for Boris?

As I said - sack him for other things if you want him gone, but not this.

It's not his doing that she was detained - better to focus on the cause of the problem, a country who is ideologically committed to inequality for women and where traditional shariah punishment constitutes human rights abuse. It might be fine there according to Trisher's friends, but it's beyond the pale for me.

Lemongrove - I too thought this must have been on his briefing notes. Now, it is either true, Or she was really on holiday.If it wasn’t what he had been told, why would he say it?If she had really only been on holiday, why would he have thought otherwise?Bit of a mystery.

Lemon, I thought exactly the same thing. It isn't a personal relationship so who on earth briefed him? He cannot be expected to work through the case himself, so he was either given incorrect information (which I hope is the case so it can be easily resolved - Iran does do diplomacy hopefully - or there is more to this case than is being acknowledged. Iranian authorities presumably do their homework before making an arrest? Let's not soak up the blame unless we really ARE to blame for the situation. We are good at doing that.

I hope we are being fed truth and not lies. Today's media can put a spin on everything. If the woman has been incarcerated unfairly it is up to British diplomats to ensure her safety and freedom, pronto. (I don't think Boris is much of a diplomat either.)

I'm not making excuses for his behaviour - if you read my post, I'm saying I don't want Iran to exert any influence on UK politics. Where did I make excuses for Boris?

As I said - sack him for other things if you want him gone, but not this.

Absolutely. Fair comment Primrose.

Some people will use the situation to do yet more Tory bashing. They pounce on it for their own agenda and it's pretty obvious.

If Johnson has been given incorrect information (from whom?) then this is a situation which can be simply resolved and we look to British and Iranian diplomacy to admit a mistake and put things right, immediately.

If there is more to the woman's presence in Iran than meets the eye then we need to know before the usual anti-government, clobber Boris brigade start lighting bonfires and taking to the streets with pitchforks.

Lighting bonfires? Pitchforks? How to over dramatise legitimate concerns about a man who holds one of the most influential offices in this country, yet is a known liar and makes promises he doesn't keep. He should be sacked because he is incompetent. That's not lighting bonfires, and it's all anyone has said.

... exactly, and wooden spoons would not survive long either, in a bonfire. If the GVT and BoJo's supporters were able to correct the information on his behaviour during this whole debacle- don't you think they would have given evidence by now.

And even if there was some doubt about this woman's 'working holiday' - he should not have expressed it publicly in the way he did, knowing full well it would be very likely to have disastrous circumstances for her and her family.

Yes, he should be sacked for many many reasons, and this being the last straw. But she can't - because of recent events- she can't be seen to lose another one- and he is too dangerous.

"he should not have expressed it publicly in the way he did, knowing full well it would be very likely to have disastrous circumstances for her and her family."

Why did he "know full well" how the Iranian authorities would react?

We are looking at a very strange scenario with two sides and neither of them of Johnson's making.

A) There is no reason whatsoever to arrest the woman as she has done nothing wrong and has almost served her sentence.

B) She has broken Iranian law (and given it's Iran, probably offended male sensibilities too.)

The problem lies with Iran. I hope our diplomats can unearth just why she was arrested in the first place, long before BJ intervened. She was arrested in April 2016 ' after being accused of trying to orchestrate a “soft overthrow” of the Islamic Republic according to the Guardian. Now she faces fresh charges if indeed she was training journalists.

It sounds horrifically draconian, but was she on a political mission? What a dangerous place to be a female and hold views which are contrary to the repressed regime of the country.

I feel for her but I also think we must get to the root of the information fed to Boris Johnson.

I'd hope ministers looking on feel the same way before it all becomes BJ's fault. There is more to this than meets the eye.

trisher simply because you have friends who have family in Iran means nothing.
Also, who said that Saudi Arabia was any better than Iran?
Both pretty awful IMHO.
Yes, I think there is far more to this situation as well, and it may well be that Johnson thought he had to say what he did because it was to the select committee, and he wasn’t just speaking ‘off the cuff’. There may well be diplomatic reasons why he kept his distance from her husband.
None of us know, and probably never really will do.
This is not an excuse on my part for Johnson, I have always thought ( and said up thread) I think he was a really bad choice for the job,but think this Iranian case is complicated.

Isn't it the case with foreign diplomancy that, what you don't say if often more important than what you do say. And, shouldn't a foreign secretary be trusted to keep his/her mouth shut at times?

Yes, but if speaking to the select committee, keeping a shut mouth is difficult.
I would have thought the best thing would have been to say ‘my understanding, from her family, is that she was on holiday’ that would have been easy to do, and that’s why I wonder if there is more to this story than we know.

He is supposed to be intelligent Lemons. He is also in a position where he should be able to be cautious in what he says knowing this women is in grave danger. That is his job and any select committee would understand it.

He is now plastered all over the Mirror because of some remarks he made and an Anglo-Spanish event. The Foreign Office has had to put out a statement saying: "The Foreign Secretary was expressing a personal view but he respects this Spanish tradition. However, the Foreign Secretary doesn't personally support bull-fighting and he is proud the UK upholds the highest in animal welfare standards.

This is quite ridiculous. He is not at these event as himself - he is there to represent the Foreign Office and this country. It is making us a laughing stock that he cannot open his mouth without putting his foot in it and unbelievable that he has not been sacked.

www.change.org/p/free-nazanin-ratcliffe

1 million and 37 thousand people must obviously be wrong according to Day6 and Lemon.
The reason Richard Radcliffe is talking about what has happened now is because Johnson has put his wife's safety at risk. He has been told not to rock the boat and the foreign office will do all it can for over a year.
This is the foreign office doing all it can, is it?
Pathetic.
The problem is that Richard Radcliffe thinks that if Boris is sacked, it might make things worse for Nazanin. All he wants is his family home for Christmas.
He cannot go and see his wife and daughter because they will not give him a visa. His daughter is speaking Farsi with a few English phrases.
She is not a journalist and has never been a journalist. She is a charity worker, and does not work in Iran.