Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe

[viques]

Report in the Guardian that she has had her passport returned and that a negotiating team are in place.

Too early for celebrations but I have got my fingers crossed behind my back.

That's strange... where did you read it

"Two government sources told The Times that the US blocked the deal, leading to an angry — and until now undisclosed — diplomatic row. “The US effectively blocked it,” one source said. “We were furious about it but nobody could say anything. Iran was never going to accept releasing three people. It was always about the two.”

The collapse of the deal and the arrival of Liz Truss as foreign secretary in September led to a change of approach. She made clear that securing Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s release was her priority and urged officials to be as creative as possible. She said that the matter should be seen as between Britain and Iran rather than one linked to the US."

@purpleboy

Oh god that video, hearing her crying when she saw Gabriella, I think it's the most tragic and beautiful thing. So happy they are all back together. 💚💜🤍

Crying my eyes out.

Excellent article about the history of hostages/debt/negotiations.
Liz Truss has actually done very well by them.

www.theguardian.com/news/2022/mar/16/debt-sanctions-and-a-cold-westminster-tent-how-the-iranian-hostages-were-freed?

Whereas in May 2021:

www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/biden-would-not-bar-uk-paying-iran-debt-to-secure-nazanin-s-release-antony-blinken-b933546.html
The US Secretary of State has said Joe Biden would not stand in the way of the UK paying a long-standing debt to Iran in order to secure the release of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.

Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s family argue she is being held “hostage” over a historic debt owed by the British Government - but there are fears paying the money would breach international sanctions against Iran.

However, hopes of her release were boosted when Antony Blinken said on Thursday that any move to pay Tehran was a “sovereign” decision for the United Kingdom.
[...]
Boris Johnson said on Monday Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s case and the debt were “two entirely separate issues”.

So "two government sources" might be telling the truth about an "undisclosed" row.

Or given Johnson's long history of fibbing and evading responsibility, it might be "A big boy did it and ran away."

Whichever, I'm extremely glad Liz Truss actually sorted out her own, UK deal, rather than waiting to coattail on a US one.

@RobotValkyrie and @Tonya345 i think both of you wanting to send her a welcome home card is a lovely thing to do, and I disagree with @TodayWeShark
Maybe you could send them to her MP, so it’s not intrusive on the house and she can collect them and let the family know and they can deal with them as they want. I don’t think knowing people remember you is ever a bad thing. That’s what Richard wanted to keep her in the news to get her home. I think sending a card via her MP would be a lovely thing. No family is going to put out a press release saying “please everyone send a card” as that’s just weird.

Thanks, that's a very detailed article, GiantKitten.

So according to Morad Tahbaz's family, he himself rejected one deal as an inadequate fudge. Although it seems this rejected deal is now pretty much what has happened as he is now on furlough from jail.

The last-minute delay in Nazanin & Anoosheh's departure was caused by a fruitless attempt to get a better deal for Morad.

www.theguardian.com/news/2022/mar/16/debt-sanctions-and-a-cold-westminster-tent-how-the-iranian-hostages-were-freed?
A previous UK attempt to settle the debt had collapsed partly over Tahbaz. In the interim between Biden’s election as US president and Donald Trump’s departure in January 2021, Dominic Raab, the then foreign secretary, proposed a deal to Tahbaz in jail whereby he would be left in Iran on furlough – out of jail but not free – while Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh would come home. The Iranians regard Tahbaz as American and so did not see him as a legitimate part of any bilateral British trade-off.

Tahbaz, according to his family, rejected the Raab deal from his prison, and so did the US. At the time the outgoing Trump administration was not eager to see £400m flood into Iranian coffers. As a result the UK backed off, leaving Anoosheh and Zaghari-Ratcliffe in detention.

It seems it was top of Liz Truss's agenda when she became foreign secretary. Read a quote from Tulip Siddiqui as few times now that it took a female foreign secretary to get a grip on it.

Well done to Liz Truss.

I'm going to send the family a card via their MP, sure they'll be plenty of well wishers at least in their constituencies that'll b doing the same.

I stayed up until 1 am to see her plane land make she she got off it !!!!!

My god, goose bumps, I was so scared for her that they'd snatch it away again. Praying this is the end of her nightmare x

@BlueSpottedGiraffe

I would imagine that Elika had permission from all involved to film live, they will have been in regular contact with Anoosheh and Nazanin throughout the day.

The room had also obviously been purposefully set up so that Nazanin could be reunited with Richard and Gabriella off camera.

It was clear from the video though that the female FCO staff member wasn’t enthused by the filming - I agree with her!

HRTQueen

Such wonderful news

There reunion should have been private it’s such a personal moment but her life if public and political

Let’s hope they are left alone

Actually I agree , I thought the photos were nice and ‘enough’ but I felt really uncomfortable listening to the sobbing when she was reunited. I know it was a family video but I felt like I was a voyeur.

@Pedallleur

Most expensive passport ever? £400 million we have paid back

We owed and should have paid decades ago.

@ScribblingPixie

I'm reading this morning that Joe Biden blocked a deal to release the Brits last year because it didn't include the third 'hostage' who has Anglo-American citizenship. I honestly don't get the love for him, I think he's an appalling president. If it's true that Liz Truss gave the go ahead to negotiate bilaterally then thank heavens for her & shame on us for kowtowing to the US last year.

If it had been the other way around, I can’t think that the US would have put off negotiating the freedom one of their own, in order to oblige us.

They’ve stated to try and just get back to normality

Which probably doesn’t involve a truck load of random stuff sending cards

Just leave them be and let them update when they want.

We watched her plane fly over our house as we live near Brize Norton. Quite an emotional moment.

What were those who watched the video expecting to see? Weird to watch a video which clearly states it is of a mother and daughter reuniting and then complaining that the video is there to watch.

A debt we owed was paid back.
Nazanin lost six years of her life. Think the UK Govt should pay her a huge amount of compensation.

@bonfireheart

A debt we owed was paid back. Nazanin lost six years of her life. Think the UK Govt should pay her a huge amount of compensation.

Quite agree

@ScribblingPixie

That's strange... where did you read it

"Two government sources told The Times that the US blocked the deal, leading to an angry — and until now undisclosed — diplomatic row. “The US effectively blocked it,” one source said. “We were furious about it but nobody could say anything. Iran was never going to accept releasing three people. It was always about the two.”

The collapse of the deal and the arrival of Liz Truss as foreign secretary in September led to a change of approach. She made clear that securing Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s release was her priority and urged officials to be as creative as possible. She said that the matter should be seen as between Britain and Iran rather than one linked to the US."

How did they block it though? If the British and Iranians made a deal why would it need the US to agree to it?

the female FCO staff member wasn’t enthused by the filming - I agree with her!
You see, I think her feelings about it are not important in this situation and it was not her decision to make - and the same for all of us. It was entirely up to the families concerned if they wanted to share a part of it and live stream it. They need to be in control of their own lives now, after up to 6 years being under the control of others and often feeling completely powerless.

I think it's the most tragic and beautiful thing.
I think this is a good way to put it. The film is very human. It is both traumatic and joyous to those people who genuinely care about what the families have been through over all these years. Hearing a mother cry like that at the reunion with her child and husband shows in very bright light the harsh reality of the completely inhumane thing they have all been put through. As a society we cannot shy away from that - the government certainly shouldn't be allowed to shy away from it - and it must not be allowed to happen again to anyone else.

Most expensive passport ever? £400 million we have paid back
Anyone who really thinks that the government finally coughed up the 40+ year old debt to get these two people home needs their bumps feeling. The timing tells us all we need to know. The Putin/Russian war on Ukraine and the UK government's need to source oil other than from Russia was a critical factor in why the debt has been paid now. That is largely why the two main hostages to that debt now happen to be suddenly back where they should be. That, and the desire to get the nuclear agreement back on track with Iran now that Biden is in office and not Trump. All credit to the good work that has gone on recently, but the government should hang their heads in shame about why it has taken them so long to pay this debt, in the full knowledge that innocent people were being held in often barbaric conditions and would not be freed or reunited with their families while it was outstanding.

I don’t understand the £400 million. I read today that Iran never delivered the goods which were ordered. So why did we owe the debt? I wouldn’t pay for something I ordered which didn’t arrive. Or was it a case of the U.K. refusing to accept delivery after placing an order?

They paid us and we didn’t deliver. Then we didn’t refund them.