Couple held in Iran

[StrawDonkey]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c626p6pz7xlo

AIBU to not understand why anyone would go on a motorcycle trip to Iran? Advice is not to go there at all but I can understand that someone desperate to see family would take a risk.

Ah ok. That may be true. I certainly wouldnt go there anyway. The point is, the guidance is Not to go there at all. It's pretty well known how dangerous it is for British people.

There’s nothing wrong with “going off the beaten track”, not everyone wants to lie on a beach on holiday. But, to twist the phrase, foreign countries are like the past, they do things differently there. It’s illegal to denigrate the royal family in Thailand, in Sri Lanka and Myanmar it’s an offence to insult the Buddha, lots of countries have death penalties for drug possession/smuggling. Go and see the world by all means but not only understand/mitigate the risks but understand that some risks are too high.

Pair of idiots. No sympathy for them at all. And don't waste tax payers money on getting them out.

Because they were so annoying?

I know someone who's recently gained a PhD who boasted about something she wrote being "sighted" in an article. How on earth can you get through a doctorate without knowing it's cited, not sighted?!

The travel advice is very clear for Iran.

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/iran

People often think "it won't happen to them" until it happens to them.

DS is into his travelling and I've made it very clear to him to read and be aware of the travel advice from the Government.

😂

Also, if they were arrested over a month ago, seems a rooky error that the government/family/companies haven’t promptly sorted taking down their social media feeds before the story broke. Their posts are now being reported on worldwide, which surely can’t be helping diplomacy.

Oh come on! Do you smile like that?

it looks like a go fund me was set up to fund their trip.

aaah i forgot you are not supposed to post funding links on mumsnet. I linked to it. Mea culpa MN.

Anyway, I also said (and it's true) that despite they and their situation has irritated me I hope they get home safely. They were clearly unbelievably naive.

Really?! I’m going to have to look this up now! I thought they released him to a family members house but then sent him back to jail

I read that first sentence and couldn’t work out what you were talking about. I was thinking sighted -what?! 🙈

You do realise people can be very intelligent, hold a PhD and also be dyslexic? One of my friends is exactly this. She holds down a job with a huge amount of responsibility, has a PhD but is dyslexic therefore finds spelling and locating the right word difficult at times

The FCO website is just guidance, several hundreds of thousands of UK citizens live and work in areas that the FCO advises against (including FCO staff).

I can't believe how many people seem to think that these people deserved to be arrested.

It's shocking, there's some really nasty comments on this thread.

It used to be just guidance. But for the last few months it's been pretty much an instruction. And it's made clear on that page that there may well not be any consular services there now.

I've travelled to many 'difficult' countries, but I've never seen this on an FCO page before.

UK government support is extremely limited in Iran. Assume that no face-to-face consular assistance will be possible in an emergency and the UK government will not be able to help you if you get into difficulty in Iran.

Doh of course FCO work all over the world including in war zones! Doesn’t mean you should travel there as a tourist.

the woman posted on social media about her trip including photos with locals and meeting mullahs. Of course she doesn’t deserve it but she was incredibly naive if not stupid (the captions speak for themselves). Even though she is a Spanish resident, UK embassy staff will have to work hard to get them both out and the UK will probably have to enter some sort of diplomatic deal (read pay a ton of money) to get this sorted. They are bargaining chips for the regime now.

The had a face to face meeting with the UK ambassador. Iranian media published it. I don’t think their arrest was recent, only made public now.

To be fair I think anyone donating to it was probably just as stupid as they are. If you want to go on a long holiday around the world, save up yourself, why should other people pay for it? And if youve got spare cash to donate for a holiday, start your own saving pot! Although obviously people can and do donate willingly to all sorts of CF fundraisers....

They have had consular assistance.

They haven't posted anything anti-Iran on social media, it's perfectly legal to use social media in Iran within the restrictions, it's just censored.

They have been arrested without charge, and it's scary how many people think that is acceptable.

... and that was the third visit, the previous two he retreated when it was clear the reception would be hostile. So the third time he made the fishermen leave him there, because obviously that would improve matters.

Yep that couldn't be much clearer.

A lot is said these days about natural consequences in regards toddlers but the same logic can apply to these two as well, they choose to ignore that clear warning or shrug and say "won't happen to us" = they stay there until the Iranian regime decides otherwise. However long that might be.

Nothing happening in Iran is acceptable. Why would they be the exception?

Fools
I have never been to Iran but a PP said its beautiful so I googled .
You are right, it really is.

I am old and I remember that (though not Iran, granted, but another country I know little of) in the 1970s Lebanon was a tourist destination, as was Libya as a cousin of mine was offered a job on their Airline.
Beirut they called "the Paris of the Middle East"