How I wish our PM thought of someone other than himself

the amount has been paid into the Court Funds Office and awaits a court judgement, as concerns were raised then and now about the use it would be put to by Iran.

If it is Iran's money, aren't they entitled to be repaid regardless of what they are going to do with the money?

If Nazanin is really being held hostage because of this money, that's barbaric.

Here's a link to the petition.

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

It’s a dreadful situation for all concerned. Since Nazanin entered Iran, to visit her parents apparently, her British passport and citizenship was of no practical use to her. Iran only recognises her Iranian citizenship. Nazanin would have known this but clearly thought she was safe in the country of her birth. I believe the charges against her are false, but none of us really know the truth. People appear to think they know the truth, but they don’t. I don’t understand why a debt that should have been paid in the late seventies would suddenly be used against a woman in 2016. Maybe I’m naive. Iran have held other British citizens and others are being held now. I think it’s unlikely that Richard Radcliffe will not achieve anything by his hunger strike unfortunately.

From the text of the petition :

"Nazanin currently works as a project manager for the Thomson-Reuters Foundation; which delivers charitable projects around the world. It does not work in Iran."

Baggs

But this: "Thomson Reuters Corporation is a Canada-based multinational media conglomerate" from Wiki wouls appear to suggest that Nazanin did work in or relatred to journalism.

As others have said, I don't believe this is a simple problem even though it does look as if Boris put his foot in it.

She worked for the charity arm, the This Reuter Foundation. Nothing to do with journalism.

We've been over all this loads of times in the past 5 years. She was never a journalist. The blonde halfwit picked up on the name Rueters and made a wrong assumption when he should have kept his mouth shut.
He's now keeping it shut when he should be trying to exert some influence.

It is not just as simple as handing the money owed back to Iran. To do so would contravene the international sanctions in place regarding Iran.

Should have had a ? at end of post.

Urmstongran

Why the ‘Usg’? That was unnecessary surely? I’ve spent my spare time reading my book club choice I’ve hardly read the papers. It was a genuine question.

We owe Iran millions on a deal which I think we reneged on. By whom? I can’t remember. Was it Cameron & Clegg or Blair? Why aren’t we paying it? Do we fear it will go towards nuclear capability?

It was for weapons ordered by the Shah and the order was cancelled when the Shah was deposed. The money should go back to Iran.

The Shah was deposed in February 1979. Callaghan was PM then and replaced by Thatcher in May 1979. The actual order was cancelled by the Revolutionary govt of Iran in April. International arbitration in 2008 ordered Britain to pay the money back (Gordon Brown was PM).

In March 2020 the UK agreed to pay the money back with interest, but is still trying to work out how to repay it. IMO if all that money handed over to cronies for track and trace etc, it would have been better spent if used to pay back Iran.

Why is he bothering? The country where she is being held doesn’t care about human rights so as far as I can see he could die there on the street of starvation and it wouldn’t make them change their minds ?‍♀️

GrannyGravy13

It is not just as simple as handing the money owed back to Iran. To do so would contravene the international sanctions in place regarding Iran.

But arguably the debt dates to before the sanctions were imposed so shouldn't in fact be subjected to those sanctions.

Bignanny2, he's bothering because, it seems, she's just conveniently forgotten unless he keeps on challenging our government. I'm sure they can do more (or, at least, something) but have to be pushed into it - as usual.

Whitewavemark2

I am sorry, I clearly should have been clearer as to who the chap is, but I honestly thought everyone would know!

My goodness how quickly people forget!

.and in any case he's been there for 16 or 17 days now. It's entirely reasonable to assume that we've seen a newspaper in the last two weeks.

Bignanny2

Why is he bothering? The country where she is being held doesn’t care about human rights so as far as I can see he could die there on the street of starvation and it wouldn’t make them change their minds ?‍♀️

Whereas of course the country he lives in shows such concern for human rights (unless they just forget about you of course)

JenniferEccles

I also remember reading some while back that there were talks about us possibly repaying the debt but we were still in the EU then and they intervened to stop it.

It was the US who introduced sanctions against Iran, including freezing assets. The EU also imposed sanctions but came up with ways in which member countries could transfer money to Iran.

It is possible, indeed quite likely, that he is ‘bothering’ because he loves his wife, because he wants his daughter to have her mother home, because he and his wife are at the centre of an injustice not of their making, because the PM’s gaffe was instrumental in securing a longer prison term for Nazanin, because he hopes to remind the public that his wife is still facing untold years in prison, because public opinion may yet influence government to take further action to secure Nazanin’s release. And in his shoes I think I’d be inclined to do something similar because to do nothing would not be an option I would consider.

MaizieD

We've been over all this loads of times in the past 5 years. She was never a journalist. The blonde halfwit picked up on the name Rueters and made a wrong assumption when he should have kept his mouth shut.
He's now keeping it shut when he should be trying to exert some influence.

You really know that they aren’t. They are, and have been, or are you privy to the internal workings of the Foreign Office.

I agree maddyone.
None of us know the truth about this particular case, only what we’ve been told by the family.

Although I can understand why the husband would want to do everything he can to try to secure his wife’s release I don’t think going on a hunger strike is a sensible plan.
How long will it go on? He’s 17 days in already so must surely be close to collapsing. What about his daughter? She is relying on him.

I think its pretty shabby to try to say that what Radcliffe is doing is bad for his daughter. She's with her grandparents.

Is going on hunger strike not sensible? We're all talking about it aren't we? And signing petitions, I hope. And donating too, if we can.

It's blackmail MaizieD when someone is being held on trumped up charges and the conversations surrounding this always come back to money owed.

I agree that BJ put his foot in it but as has already been pointed out she'd already been charged and imprisoned.

It will be bad for his daughter if he severely harms his health, which could happen very soon if he continues the hunger strike.

That's just a fact, not a judgement of his action.
I hope he has medical monitoring while he does this.

Just for clarity - I wasn't letting Johnson off the hook. In fact the opposite. Despite the fact she was already in custody he hadn't made any attempt to understand the situation and just made it worse.

Oh dear so many assumptions on here.
Of course it’s just another excuse to have a go at the PM by stating that ‘he hasn’t made any attempt to understand the situation’
How on earth do you know that Alegrias1 ?
You can’t know what the PM has or hasn’t done in relation to this case.

Although I can understand his desire to do something to keep his wife’s plight in the public eye, I still maintain a hunger strike is a pointless exercise for the husband. He needs to keep himself as fit and healthy as he can for his daughter’s sake.

Oh dear so many excuses for this dreadful prime minister.

There is absolutely no question that he made the situation far worse for the woman, and to try to excuse him is beyond the pale imo

He said she was training journalists. She was visiting her family. Training journalists was quite possible the worst thing he could have said. Most of us winced when he said it - yet as Foreign Secretary, he thought is was acceptable to say it. So, if he did make an attempt to understand it and still got it so egregiously wrong, what does that say about him?

Richard Radcliffe has been dignified, restrained and statesmanlike during this whole thing, for nearly 6 years. Can you imagine how he must be feeling if he thinks one of the only routes now open to him is leaving his beloved child with her grandparents, going on hunger strike and sitting out on a cold and wet London street in November? The man is justifiably desperate.

Whitewavemark2

And she is a U.K. citizen just to make it clear

She is, and married to a Brit, with a Brit daughter. Some of the comments on here make me feel truly sick.

The money has to be repaid, but Johnson does not want to, and for that reason, has not made any representations to fight the case or sent any enyoys to try and rescue her- because doing so would mean having to re-imburse the money- this is not blackmail, as it is their money.