When is she going to fire him? (Boris)

maryeliza I agree that a phone call is just not good enough. BJ said a lot about her case, other MPs on the select committee are also talking to the Iranians which is documented too - Ann Clywd was told by the Iranians to stop asking questions about her sentence, for example. It's worth a read. I doubt we will ever know the whole truth about this and I think she is probably being used as a bargaining chip.

Alistair Burt has actually been out to Iran and has met the daughter and grandmother, but was not allowed to see Nazanin herself. This was in August.

Nobody is being an apologist for Iran.
If you read what Richard Ratcliffe has said he doesn't want people to criticise Iran because he wants his wife and daughter home.
If you read all the messages from him on the petition you will see that.
So Alistair Burt met him the day before the committee meeting - so what?
She's only been in prison for over sixteen months.
Did you know anything about it before idiot Boris put his foot in it?

I've read the Sun's article where they are saying that Boris should apologise properly. (Read it so you don't have to)>
The comments under the line are the usual bile spouted by people who only look at pictures.

Primrose, have you read what Richard Radcliffe has been writing for over a year under his petition?
I suggest you do; then you might stop being an apologist for Boris.

By reading the transcript Primrose did you feel that BJ’s version of what he said he said stacks up? BTW I’m far from an apologist for Iran. It’s also clear that there are posters on here that don’t understand the power struggle in Iran and therefore why a phone call to the Iranian foreign minister is not sufficient to address the issue of clarifying what he said or said he said or whatever the truth is. I didn’t know about the meeting with AB but either way,BJ is giving at least the appearance of not taking what he said and its possible impact seriously enough.although to be fair I can’t really think of anything where BJ gives the appearance of taking anything seriously enough

I read the transcript of the select committee meeting before I posted - Mr Radcliffe had met Alistair Burt the day before. The FO is more than just BJ and it seems they are in regular contact. There's also an exchange where it's clear that no one knows why she has been detained and no one knows how long her sentence is. Even during the meeting, there was speculation that she had been given an extra 16 years on her sentence.
I do have an understanding of the current power struggle in Iran, but only what's reported in the press. It's the apologists for Iran that I find most disconcerting.

Well BJ is clearly feeling the pressure and some wiser counsel has prevailed ( well that and the gun being held to his head). It’s a start to even have contacted Mr Ratcliffe but if he’d met him much earlier he might have avoided his ‘gaffe’ in the first place - no brownie points from me

Bit late gg

Mr Radcliffe has just been on BBC Breakfast - so measured by comparison to Boris. Apparently the Foreign office has been in touch with him and suggested some dates when he could meet Boris. That is the least he is owed.

I keep wondering why BJ is being so obdurate about meeting him. My guess would be that under that carefully constructed exterior of bumbling, hail fellow well met, ruffled hair buffoon is an arrogant thoroughly nasty person who just won’t ever admit he gets anything wrong. I’m also amazed like other posters that some people on here are looking for reasons not to believe that she was simply on holiday and that’s her husband is a thoroughly decent man who is in a situation the awfulness of which I can’t begin to imagine.

Apologists for BJ on here also don’t seem to have the first understanding of the power struggle in Iran between the Revolutionary Guard ( who arrested and imprisoned her) and the Government ( who BJ ‘said’ he telephoned )

Johnson has not met Radcliffe, nor had any communication with him since this whole sorry incarceration took place a year ago.

Why? Too busy? Too little care? Too arrogant?

If you want to see what has been happening to her, just read all the posts under the petiton. It goes on for nearly 600 days, but much of the time he is telling people to be careful and not annoy the Iranian government. Lots of it is harrowing.
I believe him. I see no reason for him to lie.
Until Johnson said what he did she was going to be allowed out on parole before Christmas.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

"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.

... 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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)

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.

'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?