How many foreign secretaries does it take….?

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

She worked for the BBC (Persia I think, on line) and Reuters. Teaching.

She travelled to Iran despite Foreign Office advice and what's more entered on an Iranian passport.

However, when she got into trouble, she was suddenly a "British-Iranian."

The fact is that US sanctions made it difficult to negotiate payment. Now? not a word of criticism for the Iranian Government, which actually imprisoned her.

The British public has (had) a lot of goodwill towards her and her family, but her trashing of the UK government's effort to free her has definitely soured her return for me.

For what my opinion is worth, I don’t understand why we didn’t return the money to Iran when we decided not to fulfill the order for military arms. I think it might have been for tanks, but someone will come along to correct me I’m sure. The money should have been repaid because it wasn’t our money. We had a right to decline to supply arms to the Ayatollah, but we didn’t have a right to keep the money. In my view anyway.
I think that’s why it took so long and five foreign secretaries. The UK doesn’t pay ransoms and this was seen as a ransom. But in my opinion, it was repayment of the monies paid to us for goods which we declined, rightly, to supply.

We get SKY news in Spain.
We are not on holiday in North Korea JaneJudge.

Message deleted by Gransnet. Here's a link to our Talk guidelines.

Urmstongran Remember people, she was specifically warned by the Foreign Office in 2014 not to go back to Iran and yet she did.

I didn’t know that. Even more reason for a few words of thanks for rescuing her from the consequences of her own behaviour.

I’m relieved she’s back. I’m sorry it has taken so long.
I can’t help thinking of the outcry there would probably have been on GN if we had been seen to pay money to the Ayatollah back then.

Do you know what an escrow account is maddyone and why severe sanctions against Iran after the Shah were imposed? This has been why it has all been so extremely difficult diplomatically.

JenniferEccles

Urms I am so pleased I am not the only one to wonder where the gratitude was.
She wasn’t a bit what I was expecting. Yes obviously she has been through an ordeal but to go on the attack of the government which was instrumental in securing her freedom didn’t sit well with me.

You mean you weren’t expecting an eloquent, intelligent beautiful woman? What were you expecting?? She missed years of her daughters life. Her husband went on hunger strikes. Do you not remember the time when she was in jail and reportedly very ill? She just mentioned that she was in solitary confinement fir a while ( I don’t remember that).

I can’t believe how rude you are being JJ.
It doesn’t matter.
I don’t know you.

Criticising our government doesn’t go hand in hand with not criticising Iran. That’s a given, surely

I was disappointed that she publicly disagreed with her husband for thanking the government for her release. He will also be angry that it has taken so long but maybe thought that relief and gratitude should come before criticism in these early days.

Agree with you there merlotgran.

I think you’ve got your dates wrong urmstongran. When Zaghari-Radcliffe went to Iran to take her one year old daughter to visit her parents for the first time in December 2016 there were no warnings in place against British passport holders visiting Iran, relationships at that time were slightly better than they had been for some years. She was arrested at the airport on her way home. Warnings against travel to Iran were issued by the Foreign Office in 2018.
I can find no reference to her having been warned personally not to visit as you imply, could you please post your source for that?

Urmstongran

She worked for the BBC (Persia I think, on line) and Reuters. Teaching.

She travelled to Iran despite Foreign Office advice and what's more entered on an Iranian passport.

However, when she got into trouble, she was suddenly a "British-Iranian."

The fact is that US sanctions made it difficult to negotiate payment. Now? not a word of criticism for the Iranian Government, which actually imprisoned her.

The British public has (had) a lot of goodwill towards her and her family, but her trashing of the UK government's effort to free her has definitely soured her return for me.

Well that's mostly made up.

Ashamed of yourself yet Urmstongran?

I'll just pick one thing. Of course she entered on an Iranian passport, that's the law in Iran. If you've got an Iranian passport, you have to use it, not any other.

I'm sure that given the ordeal she's just had, you being "sour" is pretty low on her list of things to be concerned about right now.

Unbelievable. Why would you do this? For the attention?

You’re welcome Nazanin. Don’t mention it. Oh. You didn’t.

F*** me.

Despicable. Seriously.

Happy now that you've got so many of us angry? Was that the intention? Or is your attitude to defending the British Government such that you will even have a go at this articulate woman who anyone with half a brain can see is behaving impeccably after unbelievable suffering.

Well I admired the way she spoke today - in fact she was quite controlled with what she said. I would have been too angry to speak quite frankly.

It would look a lot better if you took the time to do a bit of research Urm before making yourself look like a bit of an a**e. Nazanin had to travel on her Iranian passport, and her troubles were compounded by the fact that Iran does not accept the principle of dual nationality. Her situation was then worsened by the oafish Foreign secretary of the time failing to do his homework. Probably was too busy spinning his Brexit lies and fantasy, as well as cheating on his wife.

I can't find any reference to a warning not to travel to Iran being given to Nanazin Zahari Radcliffe. Can someone post the link?
As an intelligent and articulate woman she was a suitable target for a hostage. She has been deprived of her liberty for far too long because she was being used by Iran to get monies, rightly theirs from UK who did not want to lose face and pay the debt ? Both governments put themselves as priority not the child deprived of her mother.

Our government refused to pay the money back and Iran refused to allow her to come home. The money has now been repaid and Nazanin has been released. It shouldn’t have taken six years to reach this conclusion. If it hadn’t been for her husband she may not been home now. He kept her name in the news, unlike the other two British hostages, one returned, the other still detained. We have got two home but we mustn’t forget the third who is not yet released.

The hostages are merely pawns. They were unlucky to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

To suggest that they were in any way to blame is siding with the hostage takers.

Quite despicable if you think about it.

I also wonder what is behind posts that are posted without checking the facts are so ready to damn the hostages.

Why?

What common factor is there?

Obvious isn’t it?

she travelled to Iran despite Foreign Office advice and what's more entered on an Iranian passport

Just checking …was there FO advice at the time? Was there any other option than entering on Iranian passport ?

She should apologise for wanting to visit her parents, not criticise our beloved foreign secretaries. She shouldn’t be so ungrateful for being in prison for six years for something she didn’t do. Who does she think she is…..etc etc

merlotgran

I was disappointed that she publicly disagreed with her husband for thanking the government for her release. He will also be angry that it has taken so long but maybe thought that relief and gratitude should come before criticism in these early days.

I thought her husband looked distinctly uncomfortable in her interview last night. She apologised to him for what she said, but it seemed to me beforehand he had not wanted her to say what she did, but she went ahead anyway.

I would have expected her to want to keep a low profile and just enjoy being back with her family for the time being. It must be a huge upheaval for all of them, especially the little girl.