British Couple detained in Iran

Smileless2012

Just by going there Doodledog which is why the FO tells people they shouldn't.

Thanks.

vegansrock

Oh yes I bet there will be a crowdfund going soon if there isn’t already.

They own five buy to let properties in the UK vegansrock so not short of a few quid, I guess that’s why they can go off travelling.

They will eventually be released, have a slot on morning TV then write a book about the experience that nobody will read.

According to the news they were posting about their ‘psychological experiment’ on social media.

They said that the people of Iran were lovely and they wanted to “give them a voice”. What will be the interpretation of that by the Iranian authorities?

Smileless2012

Just by going there Doodledog which is why the FO tells people they shouldn't.

Exactly.
They said FO advice and also advice from friends and family told them not to go into Iran, but they still did it.Now, they may only be held for a day or two or a week, but there’s nothing to say the Iranians won’t jail them for years for ‘spying’.

Just by going there Doodledog which is why the FO tells people they shouldn't.

argymargy

I think the point that many people are making is that their “mistake” is potentially putting others at risk, or at the very least giving people extra work/expense. This is why I can’t feel much (or any) sympathy for them.

Well yes, my fear is that if they were conducting a project as was said on the news asking Iranian people about the country they live in, that the people they spoke to could now have been arrested too.
If was an approved guide with them this should never have happened, the guide would have advised them to get permission from the authorities first so am not sure what kind of guide they had.

They went against Foreign Office advice and insisted on putting their heads in the lions mouth.
In what way? Do you mean just by going there, or did they break the law while they were there?

I think the point that many people are making is that their “mistake” is potentially putting others at risk, or at the very least giving people extra work/expense. This is why I can’t feel much (or any) sympathy for them.

I may be a hard hearted bxxxxx but I feel no sympathy at all they defied professional advise and now will pay the price just like a person who travels with drugs in their body Their choice their problem
They made the arrogant decision that they knew best
I used to live with an Iranian and even he wouldn’t go back to visit as he said he would not be safe 😀
Of course it’s a beautiful country This was a ‘we know best’ decision well so be it, they ll learn plenty of psychological information from the prison guards

She is quoted as saying ‘we are defying advice from friends family and authorities’ so…..so be it
I just hope we don’t get in some back and forth with Iran over two effing idiots

"All brains and no common sense" springs to mind!

Maybe they are mentally unfit

She is a life coach, for goodness sake, whatever that is.

Heaven help her clients.

Well if they had an approved guide cannot see why they were arrested, fir even though Iran is a dangerous country to travel to people do travel there with guides. The thing is that on the news it said the couple were working on a psychology project asking people in every country about the society/country they lived in. My guess is that someone reported them for interviewing people - and they presumably recorded it - without asking for approval from the authorities first, especially if they were asking them about their experiences of living in Iran.
We travelled to Iran many moons ago, we didn’t need a guide back then and had friends we knew living there, is an amazing country, one of the most breathtakingly beautiful we have visited, and have traveled to many parts of the ME, also the people are extremely hospitable.

Oh yes I bet there will be a crowdfund going soon if there isn’t already.

Maybe they are mentally unfit and was unable to understand the rules. Otherwise what did the expect.. They will have time to consider.
Its similar to those that travel without insurance and a health problem or an accident happens, its their families
that usually have to crowd fund to pay the bills or face crippling bills. Very selfish and arrogant.

Sympathy for the families, yes- but this couple should have known better, they aren’t backpacking teenagers. Arrogant and naive to think they were untouchable. Hadn’t they heard of Nazanin Radcliffe? She was visiting her parents and ended up in prison for 6 years and the government had to pay millions for her release.

then the Foreign Office has to spend time and money getting them out

That’ll be our money, as tax payers.

they’d reported how lovely the Iranians they had met were

Probably a different reply if you asked them now,

The big question now is...'What should our government do?' The public were warned not to go to Iran but this couple did. Quite frankly, the government is under no obligation to help them. They brought this on themselves.

It's the same as people who go hiking in the winter wearing flimsy clothing and then expect people to rescue them when they collapse with hypothermia.

Doodledog

What did this couple actually do?

They went against Foreign Office advice and insisted on putting their heads in the lions mouth.

I think there was a woman with dual-nationality who went to visit her parents and it was six years before she got out of jail. I've forgotten her name, sorry, but I know her husband thought the British Government could have tried harder.

If only she had been Royalty......

entitled and as thick as two short planks

no doubt they will be held for a ransom

What did this couple actually do?

rafichagran

This is not about sin, its sbout arrogance, stupidity and thinking they know more than what the Foreign Office is stating.
There a people that do need the help, but now the goverment has to waste time and resources on these two.

Ok let me who has never made a mistake throw the first condemnation. Does that work for you? I guess you've always made the wisest decision. Yes what they did was foolish but people are coming across as very unpleasant almost gleeful about the way this couple must be suffering. I feel sorry for them as I wouldnt wish what's happened to them on my worst enemy.

This is not about sin, its sbout arrogance, stupidity and thinking they know more than what the Foreign Office is stating.
There a people that do need the help, but now the goverment has to waste time and resources on these two.