Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe

Lord Green of Deddington Excerpts

Wednesday 28th April 2021 Lords Chamber

[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.

[Lord Green of Deddington (CB) [V]]

My Lords, this is a very difficult case, but I wonder about our approach to it. The Minister will recall the case of the British hostages in Lebanon held by groups connected to the Iranians. As it happens, I dealt with those cases, both in London and later in Damascus. Our strategy at that time was to refuse to negotiate and to keep the public profile down so as not to add to the perceived value of the hostages. That approach eventually worked. I realise that the conditions are not the same, but will the Minister now review the present case in light of this previous experience?

[Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)]

The noble Lord speaks with authority as a former ambassador to Syria. We do not accept dual British nationals being used as diplomatic leverage. Iran is responsible for putting Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe and other dual nationals, such as Anoosheh Ashoori and Morad Tahbaz, through this intolerable ordeal, and it remains on Iran to release them to allow them to be reunited with their families. We have called on the Iranian Government to release all those dual nationals who have been arbitrarily detained, and we remain committed to ensuring that we do what we can to secure their release.