Ok I will address the issues. There is no connection between Nazarin Zhagari-Ratcliffe and the money owed. It is not her debt and the Iranian government has never officially linked the two, although it has been considered that there is a link. It is a hostage situation and we have no guarantee of any kind that she would be released if the money said to be owed was paid.
If the money was paid tomorrow the Iranians would be very likely to say that she has been sentenced to another year in prison and a years house arrest and as these were for crimes under Iranian law, she cannot be released until these sentences have been served. Then if something else came up, they would keep her longer. There does seem to be a naive belief that if we pay the money she will be on the next plane out, she might be, but she is more likely to continue to be held.
There are 15 European and North American hostages currently being held in Iran. Several have been executed. Three of them are British. Does anyone know of or can they name the other two hostages? One is serving a 12 year sentence after being convicted of spyng. The other has been accused of spying but does not seem to have come to trial. He was arrested in 2017, the year after Nazarin. Where are the newspaper headings about them? What about their spouses and children?
If any of the hostages in Iran were members of my family I would be moving heaven and earth to release them, as would anyone, but if we show willing to pay a ransome now, how many other British Nationals will be arrested and held as hostages in the future everytime Iran wanted something - embargos lifted etc. One of those could possibly be my DDiL, D, DGD. or if not mine certainly someone's.
Finally a thought, why do we have different attitudes to the male and female hostages. Mother and daughter, really pulls the heart strings it seems, but fathers and children do not and get no publicity at all.