Letter from Dozens of British Parliament Members to Johnson: Stop Iran’s Hostage-Taking
Two thousand days have passed since Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s detention. 176 British Members of Parliament have accused their government of negligence in pursuing the freedom of this dual-nationality citizen and have called on Boris Johnson to “deal with Iran’s hostage-taking”.
Ms. Tulip Siddiq, Member of Parliament for the Zaghari-Ratcliffe family’s constituency – Hampstead and Kilburn – along with 175 other British MPs have written a letter to the Prime Minister, and while criticizing the government’s failure to respond to the situation of dual-nationality prisoners in Iran, have called on Boris Johnson to resolve the dispute regarding the $400 million debt to Tehran as soon as possible.
The issue stems from an Iran-Britain arms deal and the purchase of Chieftain tanks in the 1970s, the delivery of which was postponed following the Islamic Revolution. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian citizen, was arrested five years ago while traveling to Iran and was accused of “espionage.” Her release is tied to payment of this debt.
The letter’s signatories have called on Johnson to “end the Islamic Republic’s hostage-taking and support British citizens abroad.” The letter is set to be delivered to the British Prime Minister’s office by Richard Ratcliffe and Gabriella, Nazanin Zaghari’s daughter.
Anousha Ashouri’s son, another British-Iranian citizen imprisoned in Iran, will also accompany the Ratcliffe family along with Janet Daby, a Labour Party MP, in delivering the letter to Johnson.
Representatives wrote in their letter to Johnson, among other things: “It is shameful that the burden of government failure has been allowed to fall for such a long time on the shoulders of ordinary citizens and their families.”
Richard Ratcliffe, Nazanin Zaghari’s husband, told media: “After two thousand days of despair and disappointment, I wonder what the government is waiting for to bring my wife and others home? What more can we tell the Prime Minister to make him keep his promises?”
Earlier, the “Nazanin Zaghari Campaign” asked the Foreign Office to impose sanctions against 10 key figures involved in hostage-taking of dual-nationality Iranians, particularly Ms. Zaghari. Ratcliffe announced that he has provided the names of these individuals to the British Foreign Secretary.
Liz Truss, Britain’s new Foreign Secretary, has promised that in a meeting with her Iranian counterpart on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, she will work to secure the release of dual-nationality prisoners.
Ms. Truss’s meeting with Amir-Abdollahian is scheduled for today, Wednesday, September 22 (Shahrivar 31). She has pledged to the families of dual-nationality prisoners that in this meeting, she will “call for the swift release of Nazanin Zaghari, Anousha Ashouri, Morad Tahbaz, and all British nationals imprisoned in Iran”.
Zaghari, 42, a colleague at the Thomson Reuters Foundation, with the end of her sentence and the removal of her electronic ankle bracelet, has been allowed to move around within Iran, but her passport has not been returned to her.
Boris Johnson appeared in Parliament in late January 2021 and reported on “round-the-clock” efforts to free dual-nationality prisoners in Iran. He had said: “We will do everything in our power to end the unjust detention and imprisonment of these individuals in Iran.”
In May, he stated that Zaghari’s release and Britain’s decades-old debt to Iran are two separate matters, but London will do everything to free this dual-nationality prisoner.
Source: DW
