Iran, Britain discuss release of frozen funds

Money may be linked to trade for prisoner

TEHRAN• Iran and Britain are discussing the possible release of some $670 million held by London since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, an Iranian official acknowledged Thursday.

Both Britain and Iran denied any link between the possible money transfer and the detention of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian woman who is serving a five-year prison sentence for allegedly planning the “soft toppling” of Iran’s government while travelling with her young daughter.

However, a similar U.S. transfer to Iran happened at the same time American prisoners were released in 2016.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi was quoted by the semi-official ISNA news agency as saying that the money held by London is a payment Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi made for Chieftain tanks that were never delivered. The shah abandoned the throne in 1979 and the Islamic Revolution soon installed the clerically overseen system that endures today.

Sanctions between the countries have stopped the money being returned. Ghasemi said Tehran has pursued the refund of the money through long talks with Britain for some time. He denied any connection between the payment and Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s case.

“The case of Ms. Zaghari-Ratcliffe and paying debt are two separate issues and there is no link between them,” Ghasemi said. He added that she received prison sentence following the “necessary legal procedure.”

The Daily Telegraph newspaper of London reported earlier Thursday that the money might be part of a bargain to free -Zaghari-Ratcliffe.

It described the payment as a “goodwill” gesture between Britain and Iran and said authorities in London continued to consult with experts over whether the payment could be made under current U.S. and UN sanctions.

The Foreign Office said in a statement that it was “wrong to link a completely separate debt issue with any other aspect of our bilateral relationship with Iran.”

“This is a long-standing case and relates to contracts signed over 40 years ago with the pre-revolution Iranian regime,” it said.

British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson has faced withering criticism over the case after he told a parliamentary committee that Zaghari-Ratcliffe was “teaching people journalism” when she was arrested last year.