Iran on Wednesday released three British Iranian dual citizens amid the possibility of a nuclear deal. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anousheh Ashouri returned to the United Kingdom (UK) while Morad Tahbaz was released from prison on furlough.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Wednesday that the “unfair detention” of Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Ashouri has ended. “The UK has worked intensively to secure their release and I am delighted they will be reunited with their families and loved ones,” Johnson said.
I am very pleased to confirm that the unfair detention of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori in Iran has ended today, and they will now return to the UK.
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) March 16, 2022
Johnson called the release of the three individuals “huge achievements for British diplomacy” and paid tribute to all British officials who worked to secure their release. Similarly, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said their release was “the result of tenacious and creative British diplomacy.”
“We have the deepest admiration for the resolve, courage and determination Nazanin, Anousheh and Morad, and their families, have shown,” Truss said, adding that their release is a “moment of great relief” for the UK.
Great to see both Anoosheh and Nazanin in such good spirits. An emotional moment for both families as they welcome them home. pic.twitter.com/ewtFeaYJ1s
— Liz Truss (@trussliz) March 17, 2022
Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 44, who is an aid worker and journalist, was arrested by Iranian authorities for plotting to overthrow the government. She was convicted in 2017 on the same charge and charged with disseminating propaganda against Iran in 2021. Ashouri, 67, was arrested in 2017 on the charge of spying for Israel’s national security agency Mossad, while Tahbaz was detained a year later for spying on behalf of the US.
British-Iranian aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and dual national Anoosheh Ashoori arrived in Britain from Iran, ending an ordeal during which they became a bargaining chip in Iran's talks with the West over its nuclear program https://t.co/Du2KnAdB9z pic.twitter.com/Z1XAkBBkYj
— Reuters (@Reuters) March 17, 2022
In a perhaps related announcement, Truss announced that the UK had settled a 40-year-old International Military Services (IMS) debt with Iran. In 1970, the Shah of Iran—Mohammad Reza Pahlavi—ordered around £650 million ($850 million) worth of weapons from the UK. The money was paid to the IMS, a private company and subsidiary of the British Defence Ministry.
However, the UK only delivered 185 tanks as part of the deal when the Iranian Revolution of 1979, which deposed Pahlavi and installed a theocratic regime, took place. The UK has since refused to follow through on the deal and pay back the money, while Iran has demanded that it be paid its dues in full.
“The IMS debt has been settled in full compliance with UK and international sanctions and all legal obligations,” Truss said. She added, “These funds will be ring-fenced solely for the purchase of humanitarian goods.”
Several reports have claimed that the prisoner release was approved because the UK settled its debt with Iran. However, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said on Wednesday that the debt payment did not influence the release of the Zaghari-Ratcliffe, Ashouri, and Tahbaz. Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh also confirmed that “there is no relationship” between the debt payments and the release of the prisoners.
The prisoner release also follows several recent reports claiming that Iran and world powers are on the verge of reviving the 2015 nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). In this regard, Abdollahian told Truss during a phone conversation on Wednesday that “Iran is ready for a final deal if all its red lines are respected.”
Tehran has demanded that Washington makes guarantees that it will not withdraw from any nuclear deal reached in Vienna and remove all sanctions imposed on Iran. Additionally, Iran has said that a deal should allow it to receive money from its exports.
“We are close to the final point of a deal more than any time before, but what can make a good and lasting agreement certain is realistic behaviour by the US and its decline to make new and false demands,” Abdollahian reiterated to Truss.
The talks in Vienna, which began in April 2021, have been temporarily suspended after Russia made last-minute demands last week, that the West should guarantee that Russia-Iran trade ties will not be affected by sanctions imposed on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
The US rejected the Russian demands, saying that the sanctions on Russia are unrelated to the Vienna talks. However, Russia on Wednesday stated that it had received “written guarantees” from the West that Moscow’s ties with Tehran will not be affected. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Russia will not act as an impediment to the signing of a deal during a meeting with Abdollahian in Moscow on Wednesday.
Iran and the P5+1—the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Russia, China, and Germany—signed the JCPOA in 2015. The deal, which extended sanctions relief to Iran to significantly reduce its nuclear programme, seeks to prolong its “breakout capacity,” which is the time required to produce highly enriched uranium for one nuclear weapon.
However, the previous US administration, led by President Donald Trump, decided to withdraw from the JCPOA in 2018 and re-imposed punitive measures on Iran. After coming to power in 2021, President Joe Biden expressed a willingness to re-join the JCPOA and remove the crippling sanctions on Iran. Consequently, world powers and Iran have held intense negotiations in Vienna, Austria to restore the deal since last April.