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.

Yep! The story goes on about how they 'believed in people' - if they were 18 I would understand the naïvety but not middle aged people

I feel sad for them and I can quite see why they'd want to visit, Iran would be an amazing country to visit in other circumstances.
But yeah, what were they thinking? Can't work out if they were startingly stupid, incredibly arrogant or breathtakingly naive.

As the saying goes,

Play stupid games.
Win stupid prizes.

Absolute morons. Total naivety. I am friends with many Iranians who hate the regime and the ideology of the region. The man who held up a sign at the anti-Israel marches saying Hamas = Terrorist is Iranian.

I have a naive optimistic view of humans. I'm sure Iran has the same share of lovely people in the population as elsewhere, but the power structure, political instability and risk means it's not safe there for UK nationals at the moment. They were incredibly stupid not to listen to the concerns of loved ones and their own worries And arrogant and reckless to ignore the foreign office advice who know the situation in Iran far better than them.

The worst part is that Nazanin had every reason to be there and still suffered six years of utter hell and these clowns thought they could just pass through on a jolly.

Pair of absolute morons.

It is likely that the UK will be able to get them out. The reason Nazanin and Anoosheh were held for so long was that they were dual nationals which made the situation much harder.

They aren't Mensa candidates either!

Why is she gurning like a loon in the photos like she is possessed?

I can't imagine the fun police/hardcore Islamists thinking that's an acceptable way for a woman to behave in their 'women should be covered up and quiet' Islamic country .

To be honest, I would take exception to her manic mannerisms here in Wales 😕

Between this pair of twits and the idiot who was trying to pose with a shark and lost a hand trying, I'm wondering what the Top 10 for the Darwin Awards will be this year.

Hopefully they are just being made an example of and they are released soon . They said they trusted in the goodness of humanity that's why they went . Now they will have learned the lesson that not everyone thinks like they do .

Isn't that the problem though? These two Pollyannas seemed to have been determined to prove that Iran isn't as it is depicted by the Western media ....... and it turns out that it is.

I understand the wish for adventure and that Iran is a beautiful country with some lovely people and a fascinating history and culture but there's an incredible hubris in ignoring the fact it has a totalitarian, fundamentalist government, currently waging several proxy wars against the West.

There's a selfish aspect to this too because these two will now be used as bargaining chips and securing their freedom is going to come at some kind of cost to the UK.

👏🏼

Two complete idiots.

I feel sorry for the officials who are going to have to waste their time trying to get them out.

Took the words out of my mouth! We have 2/10 contenders for 2025 in the bag. (BTW she lost both hands after trying to get said shark to come nearer to her allegedly)

They were warned and chose to ignore those warnings. Now they expect the British embassy to help them.

I am sure Iran can be a beautiful place, I would like to go to most places to see the different histories and culture but there are some countries I would not go to because of the danger.

@Gingernaut I read that story yesterday and all my sympathy went to the shark. Hate it when some twit insists on taking your photo and the shark obviously feels the same way. Maybe the poor thing was camera shy.

Stupid fuckers. I read about them today and honestly felt drained at the sheer stupidity.

Not quite right. She was at much more risk of being detained, because while Iran tolerates tourists, it is extremely anti those with joint Iranian/British nationality or married to Brits. She was talking much more of a risk being there than your average tourist, even if she had better reason to want to go.

If there's any justice then Morad Tahbaz should be released well before this pair. He was meant to come home with Nazanin and Anoosheh Ashoori but Iran changed their minds.

Apart from anything else - did the woman not know how women are treated in Iran?

By every reason I meant she was visiting her parents.

What a pair of entitled, patronising , arrogant tossers.

Yes, it's an extremely unsafe oppressive regime that brutalises women, but let's go anyway, smile at people and gurn for a few photos and it'll all be grand.

Maybe they thought it’s the ‘60s and they’re Dervla Murphy.

@DollopOfFun Isn't she a life coach? She probably thought she could change their mindset towards women with some snakeoil positive thinking.