Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe

Baroness Northover Excerpts

Wednesday 28th April 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)]

The noble Lord is right: our thoughts first and foremost go out to Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe and her family for this latest development. We have been very clear that Iran’s decision is totally inhumane and wholly unjustified. He is right that my right honourable friend the Minister, James Cleverly, yesterday outlined some of the action we are taking to hold Iran to account for its poor human rights record—for instance, strongly supporting the renewal mandate of the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran at the Human Rights Council in March this year and joining the Canadian initiative against arbitrary detention in February. However, this is on Iran: it can do the right thing and return Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe and other dual nationals home to be reunited with their families.

[Baroness Northover (LD)]

My Lords, I too express my sympathy to Nazanin and her family. Two more European dual nationals are being tried today—one German, one British. The German authorities have said that they will seek to attend the mock trial in the revolutionary courts. Is the United Kingdom doing the same for our citizen? What came across yesterday in the Commons was words but not actions.

[Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)]

I cannot speak for the actions of other Governments and the activity they are undertaking. We have requested access to the hearings, as we have for previous hearings, but Iran routinely denies us access to them because it does not recognise Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe as a dual national. We will continue to seek to attend any future hearings. We have been consistently clear that she must not be returned to prison; she should be returned to the United Kingdom to be reunited with her family.