‘Hostage diplomacy’ fury as Iran seizes 2 more British women
BRITAIN must stand up to Tehran’s ‘hostage diplomacy’, the husband of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has said as it emerged two more British women are being held in Iran. The regime will be confronted over the detentions
by Boris Johnson and Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab at the UN General Assembly in New York this month.
But Richard Ratcliffe, whose wife has been held since 2016, yesterday called for a tougher stance. In the latest case, both women have dual British-Australian nationality and one of their boyfriends, an Australian, is also being held. Subsequently, London has let Canberra lead the way in negotiations with Tehran.
The Australians have been involved in behind-the- scenes talks with Iran but have made no headway in freeing the captives.
Both governments have asked for the identities of the detainees to be kept private, believing publicity will be harmful. One of the women, an academic who studied at Cambridge University, has been held for almost a year on unknown charges and has already been given a tenyear jail sentence.
The other was arrested by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard ten weeks ago with her boyfriend after taking photographs when camping at a military precinct at Jajrood, near Tehran.
The couple were understood to be on a three-year backpacking trip through Asia and had been blogging about their trip. Social media users became concerned when they did not update their accounts.
The two cases are not thought to be linked but they are believed to involve the first British passport holders without dual Iranian citizenship to have been held in recent years. The Iranian authorities told the female blogger she was being held as part of a plan to facilitate a prisoner swap with Australia, The Times reported. She has been held
‘Our hearts go out to the families’
in Tehran’s notorious Evin jail used for female political prisoners such as Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a BritishIranian. The mother- of- one, 41, from London, is being held on spying charges, which she denies.
Her husband said: ‘ Our hearts reach out to the families involved. It is tough being at the wrong end of Iran’s hostage taking.
‘I hope Boris Johnson and Dominic Raab use their upcoming meetings at the UN to make clear to Iran that enough is enough. This hostage diplomacy cannot go on.’
His MP Tulip Siddiq tweeted: ‘This is a wake-up call. Soft diplomatic responses to Iran’s illegal and inhumane treatment of British prisoners have been a failure.’
Alistair Burt, a former Foreign Office minister, compared the detentions to ‘ hostage-taking’ as Iran sought diplomatic leverage.
On BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, he described the detentions as ‘deeply worrying’ and called on Tehran not to pursue cases against any of the women.
Diplomatic relations between London and Tehran have been strained in recent months by a row over the seizure of oil tankers in the Gulf. Iran has also been angered by America’s withdrawal from a nuclear deal and subsequent sanctions on its oil trade.
Mr Raab has pledged to ‘do everything possible’ to bring the detainees home and yesterday summoned Iran’s ambassador to London to discuss the issue.
Last month, a British-Iranian man, Anousheh Ashouri, was jailed for ten years over allegations he was spying for Israel.
Amas Amiri, 34, an Iranian citizen with permanent residency in Britain, lost her final appeal last month against a ten-year term for spying.