Couple held in Iran

Thanks for explaining!

So I'm a bit confused as I thought the government paid their debt in securing Nazanin Zaghari Ratcliffe's freedom. I thought £400,000 000 or there abouts had been paid.

If it wasn't fully settled then yes, again I think this couple will be waiting a very long time for release as the government won't want to be seen as legitimising this form of.. prisoner extortion. (athough if it's owed, it's owed)

Iran still feels money is owed (and the ICJ agrees, I seem to recall!)

Previous UK prisoners resulted in down-payments.

I see😬

Unlikely to be free any time soon then

I think the hope is that there might be a 'prisoner exchange'

That is awful. I feel incredibly sorry for them.

I understand that previous Brits were held as Iran felt money was owed to them by the British government. What is the bargaining chip for this couple?

I saw on the son's Insta page yesterday that they have both been back in court (which I suppose at least would have given them a chance to see each other as they are being held in different prisons) and that they were led away in shackles.

I think this may be a very long stretch for them!

Glad to find another person who can feel some sympathy for this couple. They would have been happy getting along all right on their travels and not understood that Iran is a little different.
I sincerely hope that they come out of this soon and that they are well.

Here’s my tiny violin. I don’t wish them any harm but have no sympathy for them and begrudge my taxes being spent on sorting their stupid mess out.

I’m suprised they weren’t there already. It seems to be where they keep all the political prisoners. I’m sure I’ve read its nick named Evin university. I’m not sure their other prisons are any better!!

Iran is definitely high on the list of places I want to go to but not now or for the forseeable future.

Crazy couple.

I think they have been very naive and wanted to prove that Iran is not the scary dangerous place portrayed in Western media. Well they fucked about and found out . I feel so sorry for their loved ones who now have to try and mop up this mess . The stress and worry must be awful .

I've just seen this on the news. I can't summon up much sympathy for the pair of idiots. Just why did they do this.

Item on Sky news webpage today saying that Craig Foreman has now been moved to the notorious Evin Prison in Tehran...
https://news.sky.com/story/family-seriously-worried-for-parents-detained-in-irans-harshest-prison-13414644

They have been able to call home, which will hopefully have raised morale with the family.

Those bloody tanks are always a fig leaf for hostage payments, unfortunately. The UK definitely defaulted on its side of the tank deal, and there is a judgment in Iran’s favour, but the UK position (not entirely unreasonably) is not to hand over any money to the military wing of the current loons in power when we’ve sanctioned them for trade purposes. So the regime tries to convince us otherwise by grabbing passing Brits to use as collateral. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I don’t accept that the risk for UK passport holders traveling to Iran would ever be zero, but the current stand-off almost encourages spurious detention.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was released for £400 million, but it was money that the UK actually owed Iran because the Shah had paid up front for some tanks that the UK never delivered. I can't see HMG paying "new money" for their release, it would set a terrible precedent.

It must have been terrifying for them. Reading between the lines, it sounds as though the family wants the FO to pony up some cash to secure their release, and the FO is only offering diplomacy (which won’t wash, because they were obviously only arrested for leverage in the first place). I don’t feel comfortable about giving money in return for prisoners when the recipient is a pariah state with apparent nuclear ambitions either. Why impose economic sanctions if the regime we are targeted can just extract a massive ransom?

It’s a mess.

I did think of them with consternation during the bombing.

I hope the FCDO can at least ensure continued welfare checks and press for humane conditions because in reality the situation has got worse for them since they were taken.

The BBC has picked up on it: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp867vdxe70o

Hopefully we will hear from the FCDO at some point. There may not be a lot that they can do immediately, but I think it's important that the couple are not forgotten among all the other diplomatic manoeuvring that goes on.

I was wondering how they were with the bombing and imagined things were pretty horrific.

You are right- they might have been catastrophically smug and stupid- but they don't deserve to be rotting in an Iranian jail.

An update on this:

After initially asking for minimal social media coverage, Craig and Lindsay's families have decided to go public. They have set up a website www.freelindsayandcraig.com with links to a petition for signature. There is no "GoFundMe" or other begging for money.

(And please, no more hating. Was this trip ill-advised? Certainly. Do they deserve to spend the next five years rotting in an Iranian jail? Well, you might think so, but then I hope nobody in your family ever does something silly.)

This poor couple are still held. They did so much for Afgans yet the Teleban still took them. Evil terrorists.

Update here for the couple held in Afghanistan

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gd5epdlxno

Oh I wouldn’t see the Afghanistan couple in the same light at all. They had adopted the country as their own. They were citizens as well.

if there were more people like this in the world, it would definitely be a better place.

But that is what usually happens they get extra aid or whatever , it’s not phrased as ‘buying release ‘ but is what it is in reality . The Taliban have apparently said they want to release them quickly - well what are they waiting for then , just release them if they don’t want anything in return .

There's no suggestion of the UK government "buying them back".