Britain seeks release of detainees
TEHRAN — British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson arrived in Tehran on Saturday, where he is was expected to discuss the fate of detained dual nationals, including a woman serving a fiveyear prison sentence for allegedly plotting to overthrow Iran’s government.
Iran’s semi-official ISNA news agency reported that Johnson met with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and they discussed boosting economic ties and Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers. Johnson said the U.K. would keep its commitment for full implementation of the landmark nuclear deal, the agency reported.
The British Foreign Office said earlier that Johnson would meet with Zarif on Saturday to discuss “a number of consular cases involving dual nationals.” Johnson added that he would “press for their release where there are humanitarian grounds to do so.”
After Zarif, Johnson met Iranian parliament speaker Ali Larijani but no details of the talks were released. The staterun IRNA news agency said he would meet Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and other top officials during his visit.
Johnson is in Tehran as part of a three-nation Gulf tour, which the Foreign Office said was focused on the Iran nuclear deal and “how to bring an end to the conflict in Yemen.”
Efforts to free Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a charity worker who has been held since April 2016, are believed to top Johnson’s agenda. Her husband says she faces trial on new charges Sunday that carry the possibility of an additional 16-years imprisonment, but Iranian judiciary spokesman Gholamhosein Mohseni Ejehi said last month that her verdict has been finalized.
Just ahead of Johnson’s visit, Iran’s state-run English broadcaster PressTV re-aired a documentary accusing Zaghari-Ratcliffe of planning the “soft toppling” of Iran’s government. Her family has denied the allegations.
London is considering paying Tehran some 400 million pounds from a pre-1979 arms deal. Both sides say the money isn’t related to Zaghari-Ratcliffe, though the United States made a similar payment as Iran released four U.S. citizens in 2016.