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.

@JaniieJones

'Back in your box now Janiie. No one is rewriting history on this one, however hard you try.'

I've just watched the clip! I'm not rewriting history she disagreed with Richard and refused to thank the foreign secretary saying how many foreign secretaries did it take to secure her release. Well guess what as many as it would take until the Iranian govt agreed! They are the villains here, not the foreign office.

Or maybe as many as it would take till the UK government paid a debt that it fully acknowledge was due.

Oh, this thread is making me ashamed to be a part of mumsnet. A couple of these posters come across as deeply unpleasant, ignorant people. Bet they’re awful to know in real life. Not that this needs saying but, I’m sure that she had travelled to Iran before and had no reason to be concerned so I can’t understand all of the victim blaming. Clearly the only reason she happens to be out now is because of the current oil situation. It’s down to timing pure and simple.

Anyway, I watched the full interview and I cried! It was just beautiful. How lucky they are to be so in love. She really is graceful. Wishing them all the best.

I think Nazanin wasn't able to speak freely about Iran today, not with Morad Tahbaz still being kept hostage by Iran. That's why she refrained from critizizing Iran and blamed the Foreign Office - she didn't want to put Morad at risk.

I wonder if the Foreign Office has briefed her and the other released Briton about this. What to say, who to blame publicly, etc. At least until Mr Tahbaz is released.

'you don't keep £400m of another country's money when it's endangering the lives of your citizens.'

There were sanctions in place inews.co.uk/news/uk-owe-iran-400m-why-debt-explained-what-mean-nazanin-zaghari-ratcliffe-1519922

It wasn't like the UK just cba to repay it.

It would be nice to get the thread back on topic, away from the posters who seek to put a negative slant on it and derail it. This thread is in Chat, not AIBU.

Photo from today's press conference.

It didn't look like she wanted to do the press conference at all. Completely understandably. Wanting her to show gratitude is deeply unreasonable.

@JaniieJones

'perhaps just be thankful that you weren't the one taken hostage. You get to tell someone what they should do, if you have stood in their shoes.'

If I had I would say (in my hypothetical press conference) that I was relieved to be home and understood it wasn't the number of foreign secretaries that was the problem, rather the regime they were negotiating with.

You cannot possibly say what you would have done if you had been through what she has unless you personally have been through something comparable. With every respect, it is ludicrous to suggest otherwise.

@Horcruxe

I think deep down she is very angry but keeping composed for her family and daughter.

Right now it's probably still not fully registered that she truly is free.

Personally, I don't think you'd ever feel truly free again.

I am delighted she is free BUT none of us really know the truth behind her situation or what has been done to secure her release.

There will be much she is not allowed to discuss.

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. Fair enough - understand that- but I don't feel those comments are for the public. It's a private conversation surely?

@JaniieJones

A bit of gratitude for the foreign secretaries who worked tirelessly to secure her freedom and some condemnation of the Iranian govt who were actually responsible would have been nice.

Are those the foreign secretaries who knew 6 years ago they would have to pay the debt, and the Iranian government which holds the fate of her parents and family in their hands?

And also those of other prisoners, of whom NZR is obviously conscious?

@JaniieJones

'you don't keep £400m of another country's money when it's endangering the lives of your citizens.'

There were sanctions in place inews.co.uk/news/uk-owe-iran-400m-why-debt-explained-what-mean-nazanin-zaghari-ratcliffe-1519922

It wasn't like the UK just cba to repay it.

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. The debt could have been paid as humanitarian aid.

@JaniieJones

'I don't think any of us could possibly say how we would react to 6 yrs of being detained in a hostile country, often in isolation, often in appalling conditions'

She's been under house arrest recently at her parents I believe. I don't think we're talking Midnight Express here though of course being detained by a foreign regime must have been terrifying and of being separated from her dd and dh would have been traumatic.

I don't think we have to experience it to have an opinion on the press conference do we? Again, the villain here was the Iranian regime. Not the 6 foreign secretaries who were on her side. The blame lies with Iran.

She has only been under house arrest since 2020. She was in prison for four years prior to that, and if you think prison conditions for women in Iran are comfortable you are deluded. It is, however, revealing that you choose not to focus on that.

You can have an opinion, of course. You can't expect anyone to place any weight on your opinion as to how you would have acted in her place unless you have undergone similar experiences.

[quote Yeahthat]@Papayamya

Yes it's an extraordinary level of entitlement. "I'm going to go to an authoritarian country with draconian laws, which recently imprisoned people involved in similar programmes as I am for 11 years. I'll go there using my dual nationality of that country therefore being seen as a subject of theirs. It will then be up to the British government to pay £400 million to fix that mistake for me if anything goes wrong."[/quote]
As you well know, the £400m was a debt the UK government acknowledges was due, not a ransom. And the chances are we could have avoided it if Johnson had the sense to keep his stupid mouth shut.

She is amazing, intelligent and so beautiful.

Even Jeremy Hunt has said that they need to investigate why it took so long. He implied that there wasn't the effort that should have been applied. Thankfully her husband fought so bravely to keep her case alive and in the forefront.

[quote Yeahthat]@Papayamya

Yes it's an extraordinary level of entitlement. "I'm going to go to an authoritarian country with draconian laws, which recently imprisoned people involved in similar programmes as I am for 11 years. I'll go there using my dual nationality of that country therefore being seen as a subject of theirs. It will then be up to the British government to pay £400 million to fix that mistake for me if anything goes wrong."[/quote]
Oh good point. NATURALLY if someone comes from an authoritarian country they must never go back, even if its on an entirely innocent holiday to visit their siblings and elderly parents.

And if they do CLEARLY they should understand that a fully briefed but too lazy to care twat of a fsec will claim they are actually a journalist there to undermine the state.

Because then OBVIOUSLY they will be held to ransom for 6 years for millions of dollars of undelivered tanks ordered in the 1970s.

Related: are you high?

@LizBennet

What tf is wrong with some people 😤

That’s exactly what i was thinking

@dipdye

Is it just me?

Why isn't she angrier?

Was it paradise in that jail??

'we have be e through a lot'

Understatement of the century award gone, right there

Oh she was angry I listened to the whole conference. She made it crystal clear she was angry at the fact it took 5 foreign secretaries before she was released, she made it clear her time was torturous and will impact her for the rest of her life for something that was nothing to do with her. She repeatedly stated it took six years too long, she reiterated how it had impacted her relationship with her daughter. She questioned why others were still in jail.

She was incredible, she stated she had to leave the dark hole of anger to one side, otherwise she couldn't heal and move on with her family- but she was clear- she feels anger at how she was treated and she at the right time wants answers.

[quote Yeahthat]@TheOnlyMrsMac

The UK government was entirely correct not to pay that debt, and at some stage it wasn't even possible due to US sanctions. She was in prison in Iran because she chose to take a very stupid, and known, risk by going there. No, she's not worth £400 million. I'd same the same if it were a young smart ass that decided to go to North Korea or Afghanistan and got themselves in trouble. Maybe in future people that choose to visit these countries should be required to sign contracts before they go accepting that whatever subsequently happens is at their own risk.[/quote]
If it was such a stupid risk, how come hundreds if not thousands of people were travelling to and from Iran with impunity at the relevant time? And indeed that she herself had travelled regularly without problems? You seem to suggest that everyone travelling there should have known that it was virtually inevitable that they would get arbitrarily arrested for something they hadn't done and imprisoned, when manifestly that was not the case.

She was articulate and kept her emotions together (not that I would have judged her if she didn’t) a very intelligent women who wasn’t getting drawn into making her pain public

It’s for her to decide if she wants her anger to be public I don’t want her used as a political pawn she has been for long enough and her and her family have missed out on so much they need time to just be together

And she has family still in Iran she has to be careful

@JaniieJones

'The debt could have been paid a long time ago and it wasn't'

This has been all over the news recently explaining it couldn't because of sanctions.

Since the 1970s? Seriously?

I can't read some of these comments- they are utterly horrendous. Can someone please report this thread I don't think it's remotely helpful.

Very brave stance there @JaniieJones 🙄

However if your family and extended support network would still be in Ian, would you be so outspoken? Think not!

Sad how two posters managed to transform a beautiful and wonderful thread into a cesspit of hate.

She might not be worth 400 millions to you, but you're not worth even 4p.

@JaniieJones

'you don't keep £400m of another country's money when it's endangering the lives of your citizens.'

There were sanctions in place inews.co.uk/news/uk-owe-iran-400m-why-debt-explained-what-mean-nazanin-zaghari-ratcliffe-1519922

It wasn't like the UK just cba to repay it.

It was an EU imposed sanction. You may have missed the news but we've not been in the EU for quite a while.

@ScribblingPixie

If travel to Iran is so dangerous as to guarantee six years in Evin prison, surely the 5 FSes should have banned travel there?

The government has advised all dual nationals against travel to Iran since 2018 so the danger of being seized and used politically must be huge. Awful for people separated from family.

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