Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has UK passport returned, MP says.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has UK passport returned, MP says.

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Randy Winkman

16,134 posts

189 months

Thursday 17th March 2022
quotequote all
Bacardi said:
I'll leave it to others to argue the toss on the politics, but I'm glad for this overdue good news and I wish the best for the future of her family, husband and especially daughter and also for Anoosheh Ashoori's family as well.
I agree. One of the best things in the news for ages as far as I'm concerned.

Pupp

12,224 posts

272 months

Thursday 17th March 2022
quotequote all
Randy Winkman said:
Bacardi said:
I'll leave it to others to argue the toss on the politics, but I'm glad for this overdue good news and I wish the best for the future of her family, husband and especially daughter and also for Anoosheh Ashoori's family as well.
I agree. One of the best things in the news for ages as far as I'm concerned.
Yep; absolutely.

Credit where it’s due, much as it goes against my instinctive grain, Truss and her team appear to have bagged a result here.

LeadFarmer

7,411 posts

131 months

Thursday 17th March 2022
quotequote all
I suppose if you were the government you have to balance whether a persons freedom is worth £400m. I would suggest it isn't hence why they didn't pay it sooner. Other factors are now at play meaning that it suddenly became worth it.

Brits going to Iran should know better. Go at your peril. No way would I go there but if I did and got imprisoned I wouldn't be expecting the British government to bail me out for £400m.

Luke.

10,992 posts

250 months

Thursday 17th March 2022
quotequote all
LeadFarmer said:
I suppose if you were the government you have to balance whether a persons freedom is worth £400m. I would suggest it isn't hence why they didn't pay it sooner. Other factors are now at play meaning that it suddenly became worth it.

Brits going to Iran should know better. Go at your peril. No way would I go there but if I did and got imprisoned I wouldn't be expecting the British government to bail me out for £400m.
The British gov owed Iran that £400m...

LeadFarmer

7,411 posts

131 months

Thursday 17th March 2022
quotequote all
Luke. said:
LeadFarmer said:
I suppose if you were the government you have to balance whether a persons freedom is worth £400m. I would suggest it isn't hence why they didn't pay it sooner. Other factors are now at play meaning that it suddenly became worth it.

Brits going to Iran should know better. Go at your peril. No way would I go there but if I did and got imprisoned I wouldn't be expecting the British government to bail me out for £400m.
The British gov owed Iran that £400m...
Shock horror, who knew!!!

Yes we all know that, but they weren't going to pay it to get her released. But then things changed.
Go to Iran by all means, and get locked up by all means, don't then ask for sympathy or bail outs.
Why should the British government suddenly have to pay a £400m debt just because I went to Iran and got locked up?

andyA700

2,690 posts

37 months

Thursday 17th March 2022
quotequote all
MXRod said:
Excuse me if this a naïve question , but why did we need permission from the US to pay back money we appeared to have owed to Iran

Did I hear someone mention OIL ?

Edited by MXRod on Thursday 17th March 07:55
We didn't, that was lies by Boris and the others. In 2016, the US handed over $400 million to Iran for undelivered military equipment and promptly received back 4 hostages. These are facts that our media would rather you didn't know.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazanin_Zaghari-Ratc...

To put things into perspective about Iranian/UK/US relations certain facts have to be acknowledged.
Operation "Ajax" 1953 - joint MI6/CIA coup to remove the democratically elected PM Mossadegh and then instal a puppet dictator the Shah.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-23762...

https://descrier.co.uk/magazine/are-british-author...

The attempt to establish a "friendly" government in Iran, composed of Ayatollahs, after the Sha's exile in 1979.

http://markcurtis.info/2017/02/01/islamic-revoluti...

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/iran-blog/2016...

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jun/10/ayat...


andyA700

2,690 posts

37 months

Thursday 17th March 2022
quotequote all
LeadFarmer said:
Luke. said:
LeadFarmer said:
I suppose if you were the government you have to balance whether a persons freedom is worth £400m. I would suggest it isn't hence why they didn't pay it sooner. Other factors are now at play meaning that it suddenly became worth it.

Brits going to Iran should know better. Go at your peril. No way would I go there but if I did and got imprisoned I wouldn't be expecting the British government to bail me out for £400m.
The British gov owed Iran that £400m...
Shock horror, who knew!!!

Yes we all know that, but they weren't going to pay it to get her released. But then things changed.
Go to Iran by all means, and get locked up by all means, don't then ask for sympathy or bail outs.
Why should the British government suddenly have to pay a £400m debt just because I went to Iran and got locked up?
I believe what happened yesterday, will make it easier and safer for people to visit Iran. Do you believe that the US/UK should be above international law, to behave like pirates and steal from other countries?

LeadFarmer

7,411 posts

131 months

Thursday 17th March 2022
quotequote all
andyA700 said:
I believe what happened yesterday, will make it easier and safer for people to visit Iran. Do you believe that the US/UK should be above international law, to behave like pirates and steal from other countries?
Thats got nothing to do with it. The political issue surrounding the debt is one thing. For me to then fly to Iran and get put in prison causing the government to then pay the debt is quite another.

Brits shouldn't be going to Iran, and if they do then go at their own peril. Not easy if you have family there, but the risk is only yours to take.

Iminquarantine

2,168 posts

44 months

Thursday 17th March 2022
quotequote all
LeadFarmer said:
Why should the British government suddenly have to pay a £400m debt just because I went to Iran and got locked up?
Because the British government took the Iranian governments money and didn't provide the goods?

Randy Winkman

16,134 posts

189 months

Thursday 17th March 2022
quotequote all
LeadFarmer said:
Luke. said:
LeadFarmer said:
I suppose if you were the government you have to balance whether a persons freedom is worth £400m. I would suggest it isn't hence why they didn't pay it sooner. Other factors are now at play meaning that it suddenly became worth it.

Brits going to Iran should know better. Go at your peril. No way would I go there but if I did and got imprisoned I wouldn't be expecting the British government to bail me out for £400m.
The British gov owed Iran that £400m...
Shock horror, who knew!!!

Yes we all know that, but they weren't going to pay it to get her released. But then things changed.
Go to Iran by all means, and get locked up by all means, don't then ask for sympathy or bail outs.
Why should the British government suddenly have to pay a £400m debt just because I went to Iran and got locked up?
Why should people be locked-up and held captive because the government doesn't pay its debts?

LeadFarmer

7,411 posts

131 months

Thursday 17th March 2022
quotequote all
Randy Winkman said:
Why should people be locked-up and held captive because the government doesn't pay its debts?
They shouldn't, but the British government shouldn't then have to act if a Brit goes to Iran. Anyone going to Iran must be bonkers, even if they have family there.

CrgT16

1,965 posts

108 months

Thursday 17th March 2022
quotequote all
Irrespective of the rest we were wrong to keep £400M of their money. Yes the deal was made with the Shah but in the end belongs to the Iranian people. Held it for over 40 years and didn’t pay interest on it. Bargain of a “loan”.

We may have different culture and views and certainly not aligned with the human rights breached but the idea the West is this benign force that is without sin is just silly.

We have done worse over the history and played the same games.

We need alternatives to Russian gas and oil so Iranian or Saudi will do, keeps the houses just as warm and the cars running. Yes it’s a cynical approach but one that in the end is pragmatic. Everyone should be against it in principle but there is no alternative and going back to medieval living would soon create huge problems. I love the hipocrisy of modern politics and, dare I say, green campaigns. It’s all great in theory providing you can get your flat white.

CoolHands

18,633 posts

195 months

Thursday 17th March 2022
quotequote all
It’s not that clear cut, she wasn’t just there on holiday or whatever. They claimed she was working against the regime because she was either training or recruiting journalists for bbc Persian which criticised the regime etc. So their claims of her being a spy aren’t completely out of nowhere (even if they are vastly exaggerated/ mostly false)

Not that I care one way or the other.

https://news.sky.com/story/iran-makes-fresh-allega...

Biker 1

7,729 posts

119 months

Thursday 17th March 2022
quotequote all
Didn't somebody work out that the lockdowns/covid rules/furlough/hit to GDP cost in the region of £1.3 billion per life saved(??) £400,000,000 sounds like good value to me.....

andyA700

2,690 posts

37 months

Thursday 17th March 2022
quotequote all
LeadFarmer said:
andyA700 said:
I believe what happened yesterday, will make it easier and safer for people to visit Iran. Do you believe that the US/UK should be above international law, to behave like pirates and steal from other countries?
Thats got nothing to do with it. The political issue surrounding the debt is one thing. For me to then fly to Iran and get put in prison causing the government to then pay the debt is quite another.

Brits shouldn't be going to Iran, and if they do then go at their own peril. Not easy if you have family there, but the risk is only yours to take.
Do you have comprehension problems or something?

poo at Paul's

14,147 posts

175 months

Thursday 17th March 2022
quotequote all
Randy Winkman said:
Why should people be locked-up and held captive because the government doesn't pay its debts?
Why do you think Iran waited 40 years to pick some random dual nationality traveller to incarcerate and leverage to get this money back?

Don't be so ridiculously naïve!

andyA700

2,690 posts

37 months

Thursday 17th March 2022
quotequote all
CoolHands said:
It’s not that clear cut, she wasn’t just there on holiday or whatever. They claimed she was working against the regime because she was either training or recruiting journalists for bbc Persian which criticised the regime etc. So their claims of her being a spy aren’t completely out of nowhere (even if they are vastly exaggerated/ mostly false)

Not that I care one way or the other.

https://news.sky.com/story/iran-makes-fresh-allega...
It isn't an easy situation to understand, but - Iran doesn't recognise dual nationality of their citizens, so to them, they are Iranian and will always be Iranian. Secondly (I know this for a fact), if you are an Iranian here with dual nationality, you do the following things if you wish to safely revisit Iran from time to time - do not work for the government, civil service, BBC or MoD, do not make any public statements whist in the UK about politics in Iran, do not make political statements to BBC Persian about the political situation in Iran, whilst taking part in a demonstration outside the Iranian embassy in Knightsbridge.

Edited by andyA700 on Thursday 17th March 10:45

Disastrous

10,083 posts

217 months

Thursday 17th March 2022
quotequote all
LeadFarmer said:
Shock horror, who knew!!!

Yes we all know that, but they weren't going to pay it to get her released. But then things changed.
Go to Iran by all means, and get locked up by all means, don't then ask for sympathy or bail outs.
Why should the British government suddenly have to pay a £400m debt just because I went to Iran and got locked up?
Oh, I see.

This is ‘your thing’ is it?

Makes you appear very worldly wise and clever. Good stuff.

CoolHands

18,633 posts

195 months

Thursday 17th March 2022
quotequote all
To me it seems obvious she was going there and agitating in some fashion, but presumably using the ‘protection’ of being a British citizen and thinking she’d be safe. Foolhardy.

Randy Winkman

16,134 posts

189 months

Thursday 17th March 2022
quotequote all
poo at Paul's said:
Randy Winkman said:
Why should people be locked-up and held captive because the government doesn't pay its debts?
Why do you think Iran waited 40 years to pick some random dual nationality traveller to incarcerate and leverage to get this money back?

Don't be so ridiculously naïve!
Because she was trying to bring down the Iranian government I guess. rolleyes