Oh, Nazanin. How dignified you are.

[AnyFucker]

Just seen a clip of the press conference she gave. How generous of her to share it with the daughter of a man still trapped in Iran.

How composed and articulate she is. Honestly, with so many fucking idiots in power, how do we keep the faith in the face of what happened to Nazanin.

She was magnificent and humbling. As for disagreeing with her husband? She expressed a different opinion which i always find a sign of a healthier relationship.

The reality is that Iran is a deeply corrupt dysfunctional nation which has been subject to sanctions since 2008. Travel to Iran is a choice and one which comes with significant risks. Foreign office advice is to not travel to Iran even if a UK/Iran dual national due to the risk and limited ability of the FO to assist. Iran does not recognize dual nationality hence they perceive the UK has no jurisdiction therefore they reject the authority of the UK Embassy to intervene. The Criminal justice system is a farce. Nazarin cannot of been blind to the risks she took in travelling to Iran.

Iran choose to imprison her arbitrarily and use her imprisonment (illegally) as leverage to resolve a debt due by the UK government related to a 40 year old failed arms deal. While the debt due was acknowledged by all parties, the UK could not legitimately settle it due to the sanctions placed on Iran. One could argue that settling this debt risked sending the message to Iran that when they want to force the hand of the West they should go ahead and take foreign nationals hostage as it's an effective means to get whatever it is they want. Sanctions or otherwise. What is the purpose of sanctions if they can do this? Russia is sanctioned now.. if they take foreign nationals hostage and seek to blackmail the world for their return - should we give in and relieve them of the pain of the sanctions? Sanctions become gut less and tooth less. I suspect brokering payment terms that mitigate this risk have been very difficult to reach and I hope we don't live to regret this in the face of an emboldened Iran who knows they have succeeded.

I am delighted that she is free, at last, but I think we have to recognize that the facts of this case are complex and it's disingenuous to suggest the UK government are wholly accountable for this or indeed had the power to solve this as quickly as would have been preferred.

Interesting that they only did this well after Nazanin's arrest.

I assumed it was the whole point, EtheltheAardvark, that the advice for dual nationals not to visit Iran was because of her arrest and that of the other prisoners. The gov were warning that Iran might do the same to others as they were using them as bargaining chips to retrieve the money owed.

@AnneKisee

Why are you so threatened by Nazanin that you don’t want anyone talking about her and are seeking to shut down discussion by saying ‘end of’ as if your opinion is the only one?

Is it because she’s not white? Because she didn’t suck up to the British government?

Foreign office advice is to not travel to Iran even if a UK/Iran dual national due to the risk and limited ability of the FO to assist.

No. At the time she travelled there was NO SUCH FOREIGN OFFICE ADVICE.

@AnneKisee - people are impressed by the composure of someone who has been through a dreadful ordeal. That’s it. Not sure why you feel the need to make tasteless comments about suicide. You suggest those praising her on this thread are voyeurs, but the ‘however’ in your last sentence gives you away as another of the posters who for reasons known best to themselves are determined to downplay this situation.

She is pure class. So articulate and confident.

I feel sorry that she openly criticised her H who has helped her so much. I don't feel much hope for their marriage as the dialogue bordered on how they have to adjust to each other.
This first sentence is not true and the second is crass. Nazanin did not criticise Richard. She - gently, kindly - said she felt differently to him on one point and that was about the need to thank Liz Truss. I have every hope for them. What they don't need is doomsayers. Baby steps, as Richard has said, but I think they are going to be just fine.

Photos from press conference and Brize Norton.

@Pinkyxx

The reality is that Iran is a deeply corrupt dysfunctional nation which has been subject to sanctions since 2008. Travel to Iran is a choice and one which comes with significant risks. Foreign office advice is to not travel to Iran even if a UK/Iran dual national due to the risk and limited ability of the FO to assist. Iran does not recognize dual nationality hence they perceive the UK has no jurisdiction therefore they reject the authority of the UK Embassy to intervene. The Criminal justice system is a farce. Nazarin cannot of been blind to the risks she took in travelling to Iran.

Iran choose to imprison her arbitrarily and use her imprisonment (illegally) as leverage to resolve a debt due by the UK government related to a 40 year old failed arms deal. While the debt due was acknowledged by all parties, the UK could not legitimately settle it due to the sanctions placed on Iran. One could argue that settling this debt risked sending the message to Iran that when they want to force the hand of the West they should go ahead and take foreign nationals hostage as it's an effective means to get whatever it is they want. Sanctions or otherwise. What is the purpose of sanctions if they can do this? Russia is sanctioned now.. if they take foreign nationals hostage and seek to blackmail the world for their return - should we give in and relieve them of the pain of the sanctions? Sanctions become gut less and tooth less. I suspect brokering payment terms that mitigate this risk have been very difficult to reach and I hope we don't live to regret this in the face of an emboldened Iran who knows they have succeeded.

I am delighted that she is free, at last, but I think we have to recognize that the facts of this case are complex and it's disingenuous to suggest the UK government are wholly accountable for this or indeed had the power to solve this as quickly as would have been preferred.

The sanctions were an excuse.

The EU enacted an updated blocking statute on 7 August 2018 to nullify US sanctions on countries trading with Iran.

The UN Security Council blocked efforts by the US to re-impose sanctions on Iran on 25 August 2020.

Sanctions was not the reason. Anyway, the debt could have been paid as humanitarian payments, as it has been now.

My post is not victim blaming @RashofBees but nor is it entirely absolving Nazanin of any responsibility.

If my post were victim blaming, then it would not have pointed to the fact that the British and Iranian government, particularly and almost entirely the Iranian government, also share culpability.

Of course, it is natural that she would want to visit her parents but unless she knew nothing of the country-and how someone who held a joint British nationality could be used by that country-then she took a risk. She may have judged it to be a tiny risk but, nonetheless, it was still a risk.

So, to repeat, the Iranian government is most to blame; the British government should have done more earlier but to entirely absolve Nazanin of any culpability entirely is to take a very blinkered view of the situation.

She has the least blame to bear but she does have some personal responsibility for taking what she knew must have been a risk, no matter how small she judged it. She wasn't going to Scarborough Fair. She was going to a volatile country, holding dual nationality.

But again, The Iranian government are the real villains of the piece and the British government didn't cover themselves with glory.

It is possible to support Nazanin while accepting that she is not totally without responsibility.

I have reported AnneKisee's crass post with its reference to suicide and I hope others do the same.

[quote eldora]@AnneKisee

Why are you so threatened by Nazanin that you don’t want anyone talking about her and are seeking to shut down discussion by saying ‘end of’ as if your opinion is the only one?

Is it because she’s not white? Because she didn’t suck up to the British government?[/quote]
I'm not white either. I'm just giving my opinion, as you're entitled to yours.
Plenty of people who have been through horrible experiences become spokespeople, 'use their platform' etc etc as many people have said here.

She doesn't seem to want all that. She's owed that much, and should be left in peace with her family.

If she WANTS to take a stand, then fair enough, but otherwise she doesn't owe anybody anything.

Why should she thank 4 past foreign secretarys who failed?

I think she is very resilient.

@AnneKisee

Marina Ovsyannikova however is brave, beyond a doubt.

Ah yes, the white victim is brave beyond a doubt, the brown victim should just get on with it ‘end of’.

@titchy

Foreign office advice is to not travel to Iran even if a UK/Iran dual national due to the risk and limited ability of the FO to assist.

No. At the time she travelled there was NO SUCH FOREIGN OFFICE ADVICE.

And was the advice not given until 2 years after Nazanin travelled?

'Why should she thank 4 past foreign secretarys who failed?'

Why blame them for not securing her release when it was the people holding her who were to blame?

Again, no need for bowing and scraping but to publicly disagree with her husband and refuse to even acknowledge the part the foreign office played in getting her home would seem a bit crap. She's entitled to say what she likes as she is now in a country that allows it just as we're allowed to question it.

We’ll have to agree to disagree then, @MoonUnderWater, because I don’t ascribe responsibility and culpability to individuals acting lawfully and reasonably when they are subjected to aggression, crime, persecution, etc. I don’t see this as any different to someone being mugged walking through a park at night - they’ve taken a risk, one many would say is stupid, but they are not to blame for being mugged.

I might be inclined to agree if this was a case of someone needlessly putting themselves in very obvious harm’s way - thinking of the reports of thrill seekers flying out to Afghanistan last year, for example - but this was very far from that.

Before Nazanin was released from their jurisdiction to come home, there were 'scary conversations' with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard meant to ensure her 'good behaviour' after she came home. With other hostages still detained and family and friends still in Iran including her parents, of course she wants to speak carefully.

@titchy

Foreign office advice is to not travel to Iran even if a UK/Iran dual national due to the risk and limited ability of the FO to assist.

No. At the time she travelled there was NO SUCH FOREIGN OFFICE ADVICE.

True, but anyone who knew Iran realized that while the FO relaxed advice in 2015, it was still a risk to travel.

but to publicly disagree with her husband
This did make me laugh. Naughty, naughty Nazanin. Very healthy in my view. We don't all model ourselves on 1950s Conservative housewives, you know.

@JaniieJones

'Why should she thank 4 past foreign secretarys who failed?'

Why blame them for not securing her release when it was the people holding her who were to blame?

Again, no need for bowing and scraping but to publicly disagree with her husband and refuse to even acknowledge the part the foreign office played in getting her home would seem a bit crap. She's entitled to say what she likes as she is now in a country that allows it just as we're allowed to question it.

Because those FSs could have pushed to pay the debt and get her released. They knew about it for 6 years.

The FS did the job they should have done 6 years ago, there is no honour in that and no gratitude required.

If the UK had paid its debt from the start, she wouldn’t have gone through this hell.

Why should she be grateful for that?

What a Lady in the true sense of the word 🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼

Publicly disagreeing with her husband, the absolute nerve of her!

Really, @JaniieJones, stop digging now.

' did make me laugh. Naughty, naughty Nazanin. Very healthy in my view. '

Oh please. Read the rest of my post. Publicly disagreeing with a husband is of course not a problem rather to disagree with him about a gov department who have been key in getting her home is the crap bit. It's his 'lived experience' too, he's been on hunger stike he's put the pressure on. Think he might have a clue on who has actually helped.