Couple held in Iran

I pity the poor Iranian inmates who are having to share cell space with these two. As if being incarcerated in some of the most brutal prisons on the planet wasn't suffering enough?

I strongly suspect there's been some champagne corks popping over in Oz as the academics breathe a collective sigh of relief that they won't be subjected to the couple's turgid twaddle.

I was chatting to my 90 year old Dad today in his care home. He had to travel to Iran on business a couple of times (he was an engineer for a large company) in the 1980s. I mentioned this case to him. He said he hadn't really wanted to go as even at that time it wasn't considered all that safe. It wasn't on the FO list as somewhere not to visit, but there was concern. He said his company said they had to make the decision for themselves whether to go or not and they wouldn't be thought less of if they backed out. The rest of Dad's team said they would go... so he felt obliged to say yes as well.

They stayed in a hotel in Tehran. Behind the reception was a tiled slogan in large letters laid into the wall, it read 'Down With The Great American Satan'!!

Dad knew then what this couple seem to have thought was some kind of great revelation - he was saying how lovely and hospitable the people were and how beautiful the country.

But even then the regime felt very oppressive.
You just don't fuck around in these places!

Sorry @Westfacing - I posted a fulsome (waffly) explanation, then trimmed it down and it didn’t make sense.

Basically, UK/US/Canada citizens can only travel to Iran with a visa, which is rarely granted. (Theoretically, you need to be with an organised group and have a local guide accompanying you at all times, and you might also need to bribe an official because they don’t like handing visas out to the likes of us - we are infidels of Little Satan/Big Satan (in the regime’s eyes) so why would they?

The vast, vast majority of Westerners visiting Iran WILL be dual nationals (like my DH), even if they have lived outside Iran not speaking Farsi for decades. So saying “not dual nationals” doesn’t really make sense because normally they’re the only ones that CAN visit.

Having a UK passport does not really offer this couple any protection. The regime doesn’t give a fuck about the publicity and might want to set an example. Their only thing they have going for them is that the regime and the UK have an ongoing scuffle over debt owed by the UK, giving them some currency. I think a death sentence is unlikely, but not impossible. If they’d sneaked in and kept their heads down I suspect the outlook would be better, but every single idiotic thing they have done whilst in Iran says “spy” if you are a paranoid fundamentalist who hates the West.

So a dual-national? I asked about Westerners who are not dual-nationals.

This couple, however stupid, are not at risk of being executed.

Also don't underestimate the power of a quick blast of kum ba yah. Should I ever find myself incarcerated indefinitely in Iran it would be one guarantee of release. Once the guards had been subjected to my unique tone deaf abilities they wouldn't be able to get me out fast enough!

@ImmediateReaction And what it really means to be a human. They'll certainly have time to try and solve that centuries old mystery but I fear the academics in Australia may have to wait a bit for the rivetting presentation they were promised.

Yes to all of that @ImmediateReaction - absolutely everything they have done since whizzing over a land border on a motorbike (🙄) has been an absolute gift to the fundamentalist nutters in charge.

Books on how flashcards expressing your feelings can help cope with waiting for the British Embassy to rescue you.

How singing kum ba yah helps make friends with the prison guards.

Making heart shaped signs with hands and posting on social media shows you have shown those Iranians how to connect with you. Aren't we great 👏

Delivering lectures in Australia about look, we showed you what a pretty country it is, you all have to just ignore advice and get out there more. 🤑💩

Last year. A German-Iranian national iirc, accused of terror offences who had been in prison for 5 odd years after a trial that - surprise! - didn’t pass muster under international law.

Bear in mind that the vast majority of Western visitors to Iran are dual-nationals traveling on their Iranian passports through necessity because of the visa situation (ie you can’t generally get one).

Oh no, please for the love of God! No!

Well said.

Iran has a large population of younger people. One consequence of the revolution was that parents who did not want their daughters mixing with males were now able to send their daughters to female only courses at university.

Yes they have been naive and stupid but my heart goes out to them . It must be an absolutely terrifying situation to be in for them and their families. No matter how foolish they have been they don't deserve this .

They'll make loads of money selling their story until we're sick of the sight of them.

When did Iran last execute a Westerner who was not a dual-national?

@Westfacing Iran sadly executes many foreigners and dual nationals. Including women. Some for espionage. You can look it up by googling Iran Human Rights. I won't link because it's pretty grim.

I really fear for them. I have expressed my frustration with their stupidity on this thread often enough but I feel real fear at what they might be facing.

Also agree they are likely to be imprisoned for years if not hanged.

Oh give over - they will not be hanged!

Good for you. You are an exemplary human being whose heights the rest of us can only aspire to 🙄.

Oh don't be so insufferably smug. They brought this entirely upon themselves, entirely. I still hope they are released sooner rather than later of course and that they're treated humanely but people who play stupid games and all that...

https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2025/02/irans-irgc-dismantles-alleged-spy-network-linked-israel-us-what-know

They are a silly pair of attention seekers. They did what they were advised strongly not to do. Now they are facing the consequences. I can't feel a lot of sympathy

They expressed themselves that it's a risk they were willing to take.

That risk is 10 years in an Iranian prison. If they were okay with that, who are we to argue?!

I don't think they'll have the weight of public sympathy that Nazanin (with legitimate reason to be there and pre increased and well known tension) did.

That is likely to influence how much the government is prepared to sacrifice to get them back. I think they'll pay a heavy price for their risk/benefit analysis.

Calmly stating you have no sympathy with this incredibly stupid couple is not "crowing" or "enjoying blaming".
The fact is there is no one else to blame but themselves, they decided to go against government and family advice to visit Iran.
Because of that, and the fact they deliberately chose to go there knowing what was likely to happen, it's unsurprising that few people have sympathy for them.
I have no sympathy for the couple at all but I feel sympathy for their family.

It's not an awful thing that happened to them. It's a thing they brought on themselves by undertaking patronising research in country they were told not to go to and endangering its citizens by doing so. While smirking on social media. I feel more sorry for anyone they spoke to who is now probably in trouble.

Goodness me, people are just horrible these days, and so quick to crow about awful things happening to others and to almost enjoy blaming… I am glad to still have compassion and humanity.