Iranian Regime: British Citizens

Baroness Brinton Excerpts

Thursday 27th February 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Brinton (LD)]

My Lords, I congratulate the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Chelmsford on securing this important debate and on her clear exposition of the problems facing Britons in Iran, whether they be British-Iranian dual nationals or British nationals. It is a pleasure to follow the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of St Albans. He has slightly broadened the debate, but it is utterly relevant that he has done so.

The right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Chelmsford spoke movingly of her own family’s experience of her brother’s death, the threat to life and having to flee the current regime in Iran. During the last 45 years, that regime has doubled down on its infamous and bloody approach to human rights.

As chair of the human rights committee for Liberal International, last week I attended the opening meeting of the UN Human Rights Committee and, the following day, the annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy, where we heard of many of the appalling practices of the Iranian Government, with moving testimony from the sister of Mahmoud Mehrabi. Mahmoud was sentenced to death in Isfahan for “corruption on earth through lies on Instagram” because he called out corruption by local officials. Mahan Mehrabi cited the 1,500 Iranians shot in three days during the November demonstrations, with thousands imprisoned and, like her brother, sentenced to death. We also heard of children aged 15 being sentenced to death and executed, which is clearly illegal under international law.

I start with these examples to reinforce the point that the Iranian treatment of British nationals is not, sadly, out of character with their barbaric human rights record. Worse, it is clear from evidence over the years that their behaviour of arresting foreign nationals and accusing them of spying is a standard tool for state kidnapping of foreigners in order to use them to blackmail other countries.

In that context, the most recent detention of Craig and Lindsay Foreman is another egregious detention on security charges and is depressingly familiar. Iran claims that, despite them saying they were tourists, they were spying. While I appreciate that the Foreign Office’s strong official advice is against all travel to Iran because British nationals and British-Iranian dual nationals are at

“significant risk of arrest, questioning or detention”,

what high-level representations are being made to help these two people swiftly, so that their detention is brief?

We know that in recent years, Iran has arrested dozens of Iranians with dual nationality or foreign permanent residency, mostly on spying and national security charges, of whom at least 15 have had links to the UK. They include Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, whom others have already spoken about. As my noble friend Lady Northover has said, Richard Ratcliffe’s campaign was absolutely outstanding, despite government advice not to say anything. She was released after six years in detention, including years in isolation, on the same day as Anoosheh Ashoori, three years ago in March. It is now clear that Iran used this as leverage for the debt for an order of tanks that was cancelled shortly after the 1979 Islamic revolution. The then Foreign Secretary in 2022, Liz Truss, confirmed that the debt issue had been resolved after highly complex negotiations. She said then that the money could be used only for humanitarian goods purchases. Can the Minister confirm whether this has happened?

Mehran Raoof, also an English national, remains in prison after spurious convictions. He was arrested in 2020 and remains in solitary confinement in violation of the absolute prohibition of torture and other ill-treatment. He is a prisoner of conscience and must immediately and unconditionally be released. A fortnight ago, the Arbitrary Detention and Hostage Affairs APPG heard about the different approach that the UK takes in these cases, compared with the US, Canada, France and others.

Morad Tahbaz, a UK and US national, was first arrested in 2019 and jailed. He was born in London and holds both British and US citizenship. He is the founder of the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation. He was released into home furlough in March 2022, but he was then rearrested two days later. Public pressure from the campaign group Bring Our Families Home, which works to bring home the wrongfully detained and hostages, ensured that US negotiators were able to have him released as part of a US-Iranian prisoner release scheme. The UK Government have a long practice of not negotiating for their own citizens in these circumstances. Are the new Government going to review this practice?

Finally, what pressure are the Government putting on the Iranian Government, via the UN and directly, to cease these abhorrent practices of kidnapping individuals, not just British nationals but Iranian citizens as well?