Asked by
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assistance they are
providing to Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe in preparation for the end
of her sentence in March.
The Minister of State, Department for the Environment, Food and
Rural Affairs and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
() (Con) [V]
My Lords, it is unacceptable and unjustifiable that Iran has
chosen to continue with this second and wholly arbitrary case
against Nazanin. Iran has put her through an inhumane ordeal. We
continue to call on Iran in the strongest possible terms to allow
her to return to the UK to be reunited with her family. The Prime
Minister has raised her situation with President Rouhani, most
recently on 10 March, and the Foreign Secretary continues to
engage with Foreign Minister Zarif.
(Lab) [V]
Why did representatives from the embassy not visit Nazanin while
she was staying with her parents in Tehran, even to the point of
sending a car without a member of staff from the embassy to
deliver a gift from her daughter in London? Also, is it not time
that we resolved the question of the £400 million debt to Iran,
which is not in dispute? Is it not time that we paid it off, at
least to clear the air in that respect?
(Con) [V]
My Lords, we have made many efforts to attend court hearings to
witness at first hand the discussions that have taken place which
have had a direct impact on this appalling case, but it is not
for the UK to force itself into such proceedings. Unfortunately,
that cannot happen without the permission of the authorities.
However, we will continue to make the case.
(Con)
My Lords, I draw the attention of the House to my entry in the
Register of Lords’ Interests. Does the Minister agree that even
if Iran has a justified sense of grievance over the unpaid tank
money, the £400 million referred to by the noble Lord, , it is beyond the
pale for a civilised country to try to make a link between the
fate of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and a financial argument? Does
he remember that when President Rouhani took office, he said in
his first speech that he wanted to demonstrate to the world the
rational face of Iran and the compassionate face of Islam? Is it
not now time, at Nowruz, the beginning of Iranian new year, for
those qualities to be made a reality?
(Con) [V]
My noble friend makes an extremely powerful point. Compassion is
certainly not a word that can be used to describe the manner in
which this British subject has been treated. The UK does not and
never will, under any circumstances, accept its dual nationals
being used as diplomatic leverage. The payment of the IMS debt is
a long-standing case relating to historical debt owed to
pre-revolution Iran, as the noble Lord will know. We continue to
explore the options to resolve this case. I cannot go into detail
here, but would say simply that the two issues cannot be merged
into one.
(CB) [V]
My Lords, I must press the Minister on the final point made so
eloquently by the noble Lord, . It seems to many
people in this country that we should simply pay this debt and
get it out of the way, given that senior members of the
Government have admitted that we owe it. Also, have the
Government made an assessment of other British citizens who
might, either now or in the future, be in danger of being held
as, quite frankly, hostages?
(Con) [V]
My Lords, it is unhelpful to connect wider bilateral issues with
those being arbitrarily detained in Iran. It remains in Iran’s
gift to do the right thing and allow British dual nationals to
come home and be reunited with their families. We have been
consistently clear that we continue to explore all the options to
resolve what is a 40 year-old case. The Government are clear that
we do not accept British dual nationals being used as diplomatic
leverage and we continue to call on the Iranian Government to
release all the British dual nationals who have been arbitrarily
detained.
(Lab) [V]
My Lords, obviously there is huge public interest in Nazanin’s
case, from the time when more than 3.5 million people signed a
petition to free her. I would also mention the case of Anousheh
Ashouri. Will the Government provide diplomatic protection for
him in the way that they extended it to Nazanin last year, as
well as providing them both with ongoing consular protection?
(Con) [V]
My Lords, I will have to take the case mentioned by the noble
Baroness back to the FCDO and I will convey her message to
colleagues in the ministerial team and officials.
(LD)
My Lords, I would also like to flag the case not only of Nazanin,
and ask why the Government have not fully used the diplomatic
protection they have granted to her. It should be extended to
another British dual national, Anousheh Ashouri, a retired
British-Iranian engineer. He has been held for three and a half
years after a grossly unfair trial. When the Minister writes to
the other noble Baroness, could he write to me as well with
regard to what is happening in this case?
(Con) [V]
I can certainly provide that assurance. However, perhaps I may
make a broader point about diplomatic protection. Exercising
diplomatic protection in the case of Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe and
others formally raises the issues to a state-to-state matter, and
we will take further action where we judge that it will help to
secure her full and permanent release. However, it is important
that we act in a way that we judge, with all the information we
have, most likely to be in the best interests of each of our
detainees. We cannot, as noble Lords will understand, provide a
running commentary on consular actions in this, or any, specific
case.
(Lab)
My Lords, in light of the revelations about torture in Nazanin’s
case, can the Government update us on how they have revised their
protocols to protect from torture the other British citizens
being held by Iran? Can he tell us what has changed?
(Con) [V]
We have said on many occasions that Iran continues to put Nazanin
through a cruel and intolerable ordeal; there is no question
about that. She must be allowed to return permanently to her
family in the UK and we will continue to do all we can to achieve
that. We shall apply as much pressure as we can in her case and
in the case of other dual nationals being held arbitrarily by the
Iranian regime.
(Con)
My Lords, we all feel the most immense sympathy about the
appalling case of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, but it is entirely
the fault of the Iranian Government. Almost 12 years ago, I
visited Iran just before the Iranian Green Movement was crushed
and I remember a Minister looking us in the eye and telling us
that black was white—in other words, lying to us. They are not a
Government who should be dealt with like a normal democratic
Government. Does my noble friend share my bemusement that people
seem to think that this is in some way the fault of the British
Government? Rather, we should understand that our citizens must
not be held hostage and used as leverage against us.
(Con) [V]
My noble friend makes a powerful point and, yes, I agree entirely
that it remains completely in the gift of Iran to do the right
thing by allowing all British dual nationals home to be reunited
with their families. As I said in answer to a previous question,
we do not believe that it is helpful or right to conflate
different issues or to enable Iran to justify holding our
citizens as collateral in the pursuit of other ancillary aims.
(CB)
My Lords, striking the balance between state concerns is key to
this. Our deep concerns have been voiced vehemently over time and
will have been well understood by Tehran. However, would radio
silence and quiet diplomacy where required be prudent now in
order not to exacerbate a tense situation at this critical
juncture? We should encourage no triumphalism from any quarter in
the event of a favourable outcome.
(Con) [V]
My Lords, we have a clear interest and goal here. Our goal is to
do everything we can to ensure that Nazanin is returned to this
country to be able to live safely and happily with her family. We
have raised the issue over and over again at the highest levels
of government. As I said, on 10 March, the Prime Minister raised
the issue with President Rouhani. There has been regular and
ongoing personal engagement between the Foreign Secretary and his
counterpart and we have been lobbying Iranian interlocutors at
every opportunity. The UK Government, from the PM down, are
dedicated to supporting Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe and her family and
we are determined to see them reunited. This is not about scoring
points.
(Lab) [V]
I would like to ask the Foreign Secretary what our policy is on
state hostages. Will the Prime Minister raise the issue at the G7
meeting in Cornwall later this year?
(Con) [V]
I thank the noble Baroness for promoting me to Foreign Secretary.
I would say that it is very likely that the Prime Minister will
raise these issues, not only at the G20 meeting in Cornwall but
at subsequent events. However, it is not for me to pre-empt the
discussions that he will have.
