Johnson: We are working to free Zaghari and dual nationals

The British Prime Minister told Parliament that the country's authorities were working "around the clock" to free Nazanin Zaghari and other dual nationals imprisoned in Iran. The British Foreign Secretary had said that we would spare no effort in this regard.

The British Prime Minister announced on Wednesday, January 20, that London is working “around the clock” to secure the release of dual nationals held in Iran. Boris Johnson told the country’s parliament that “we will do everything we can to end the unjustified detention and imprisonment of these people in Iran.”

Anousheh Ashouri, a 66-year-old retired engineer, is another British Iranian prisoner who was arrested while traveling to Iran and sentenced to 10 years on charges of "spying" for the Mossad.

Three days before Johnson, the British Foreign Secretary had made similar remarks about the effort to free Nazanin Zaghari. In response to a letter from Richard Ratcliffe, Zaghari's husband, Dominic Raab had said that London would stop at nothing in this matter.

Referring to the coming to power of Biden and the new US administration, Raab expressed hope that "the line, lines, and thinking" in Iran would also change and "new opportunities" would emerge.

Nazanin Zaghari, a Thomson Reuters Foundation employee, was arrested at Tehran airport in April 2016 while returning from a family trip and later sentenced to five years in prison on charges of attempted “subversion” and “espionage.” She holds dual citizenship, but the Iranian government does not recognize dual citizenship.

Zaghari has been on leave since March 17, 2020, following the coronavirus outbreak, and has been living with her parents. Due to an electronic tracker, she is not allowed to travel more than 300 meters from her home.

Richard Ratcliffe, husband of Nazanin Zaghari, has noted that his wife's release date is March 7, 2021, and expressed hope that no new grounds will be created to extend her detention. Ratcliffe added that although the family's calls to the Iranian embassy to inquire about her status have gone unanswered, his wife is optimistic about her release.

The Nazanin Zaghari case is tied to Britain's 400 million pound debt to Iran, which has been in the British prison system for 40 years. Iran's foreign minister has acknowledged discussions about exchanging the prisoner in exchange for London's debt to Tehran, and said that under then-British foreign secretary Philip Hammond, efforts were being made to free Nazanin Zaghari from prison in exchange for the debt being repaid.

Source: DW