The UK government has deliberately delayed action to secure the release of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe from prison in Iran to avoid offending Donald Trump, lawyers acting for the British-Iranian woman have said.
Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s legal team says the UK is dragging its feet on repaying a £400 million debt owed by Britain to Iran, and has asked for a meeting with defence secretary Ben Wallace to discuss the issue.
In a seven-page letter to Mr Wallace, the lawyers criticise the UK government for continuing “to raise every possible legal objection to payment of the debt and has plainly failed to engage in constructive dialogue with Tehran”, the Guardian reports.
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The debt relates to an arms deal with the late Shah of Iran, when Iran paid for 1,500 battle tanks that were never delivered by Britain.
Now lawyers say that the deferral of the High Court hearing on the debt until the day after the November 3 US presidential election “in effect plays politics with the lives of British citizens”.
They added: ‘The message appears to be that the safety of British citizens abroad is subordinate to falling in line with US policy.’
Donald Trump has taken a hard line against Iran, including breaking an international agreement on the country’s nuclear programme signed by his predecessor. The US also takes a dim view of its allies working with Iran and has moved to try and section European companies that do business there.
Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian dual national, was sentenced to five years in prison on allegations of spying.
She strongly denies the charges against her and has been under effective house arrest at her parents’ home in Tehran since March, when she was granted a temporary release due to the coronavirus pandemic.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Defence said: “The defence secretary’s position on this matter has not changed.
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50/50 6 July 2020
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1/50 24 August 2020
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AFP via Getty
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9/50 16 August 2020
Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland
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Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio
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16/50 9 August 2020
Doves fly over the Peace Statue at Nagasaki Peace Park during the memorial ceremony held for the 75th anniversary of the atomic bombing
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17/50 8 August 2020
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AP
20/50 5 August 2020
Damage at the site of Tuesday’s blast in Beirut’s port area, Lebanon
Reuters
21/50 4 August 2020
A large explosion in the Lebanese capital Beirut. The blast, which rattled entire buildings and broke glass, was felt in several parts of the city
AFP via Getty
22/50 3 August 2020
A general view shows the new road bridge in Genoa, Italy ahead of its official inauguration, after it was rebuilt following its collapse on August 14, 2018 which killed 43 people
Reuters
23/50 2 August 2020
Empty stall spaces are seen hours before a citywide curfew is introduced in Melbourne, Australia
EPA
24/50 1 August 2020
People take part in a demonstration by the initiative “Querdenken-711” with the slogan “the end of the pandemic – the day of freedom” to protest against the current measurements to curb the spread of COVID-19 in Berlin, Germany
AFP via Getty
25/50 31 July 2020
Pilgrims circumambulating around the Kaaba, the holiest shrine in the Grand mosque in Mecca. Muslim pilgrims converged today on Saudi Arabia’s Mount Arafat for the climax of this year’s hajj, the smallest in modern times and a sharp contrast to the massive crowds of previous years
Saudi Ministry of Media/AFP
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The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission lifts off at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. The mission is part of the USA’s largest moon to Mars exploration. Nasa will attempt to establish a sustained human presence on and around the moon by 2028 through their Artemis programme
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dpa via AP
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Malaysia’s former prime minister Najib Razak speaks to the media after he was found guilty in his corruption trial in Kuala Lumpur
AFP via Getty
29/50 27 July 2020
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un poses for a photograph after conferring commemorative pistols to leading commanding officers of the armed forces on the 67th anniversary of the “Day of Victory in the Great Fatherland Liberation War”. Which marks the signing of the Korean War armistice
KCNA via Reuters
30/50 26 July 2020
Federal officers launch tear gas at a group of demonstrators during a Black Lives Matter protest outside the Portland Courthouse
AP
31/50 25 July 2020
Rescue forces in action after an ultralight aircraft crashed into a house in Wesel, Germany
EPA
32/50 24 July 2020
Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan (C) and invited guests attending Friday prayers at Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque during the official opening ceremony of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul
Turkish Presidential Press Service/AFP/Getty
33/50 23 July 2020
Federal officers arrest a protester after she crossed a fence line set up around the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse in Portland, Oregon. State and city elected officials have called for the federal officers to leave Portland as clashes between protesters and federal police continue to escalate
Getty
34/50 22 July 2020
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AP
35/50 21 July 2020
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AP
36/50 20 July 2020
A trader decorates a camel with Henna at a cattle market set up for the upcoming Muslim festival Eid al-Adha also called “Festival of the Sacrifice”, in Rawalpindi
AFP via Getty
37/50 19 July 2020
The Milky Way galaxy is seen in the sky above the International Car Forest of the Last Church in Goldfield, Nevada. The roadside attraction, created in 2002 by Mark Rippie, has over 36 automobiles including cars, trucks, vans and buses that have been balanced on their ends or stacked on top one of another
AFP via Getty
38/50 18 July 2020
Revellers take part in the annual Gay Pride parade, also called Christopher Street Day in Frankfurt
Reuters
39/50 17 July 2020
Airplanes of the Scandinavian Airshow draw a heart in the sky, above the Turning Torso building in Malmo, Sweden
TT News Agency/Reuters
40/50 16 July 2020
Farmers protest outside the Indonesian Parliament against the cancellation of an ‘omnibus bill’ that aims to revise dozens of existing laws to ease the way for investment in Southeast Asia’s largest economy in Jakarta
Reuters
41/50 15 July 2020
Flooding in Sunamganj. Almost four million people have been hit by monsoon floods in South Asia, with a third of Bangladesh already underwater from some of the heaviest rains in a decade
AFP via Getty
42/50 14 July 2020
Second Republican infantry guard regiment take part in the annual Bastille Day military ceremony on the Place de la Concorde in Paris
AFP via Getty
43/50 13 July 2020
A man walks his dog through thick sea foam blowing ashore during a storm in Seapoint, Cape Town, South Africa
EPA
44/50 12 July 2020
Security forces on the outskirts of Amritsar take part in Van Mahotsav, an annual tree-planting festival in India
AFP via Getty
45/50 11 July 2020
People covered with coloured powder enjoy music during the Holi festival in Minsk, Belarus
EPA
46/50 10 July 2020
A demonstrator during clashes following the funeral of 29-year-old Palestinian Ibrahim Abou Yacoub, who was killed by Israeli forces, in the village of Kifl Hares, south of the West Bank city of Nablus
AFP via Getty
47/50 9 July 2020
The sun rises in Timmendorfer Strand, northern Germany
AP
48/50 8 July 2020
Portraits of healthcare workers are pasted on the Opera Bastille, designed by Anne-Christine Poujoulat, to pay tribute to caregivers during the Covid-19 pandemic in Paris
Anne-Christine Poujoulat/AFP/Getty
49/50 7 July 2020
Tengger tribe people make their way to the summit of Mount Bromo volcano to make offerings in Probolinggo, as part of the Yadnya Kasada Festival. The Tenggerese climb the active volcano to seek the blessing from the main deity by presenting offerings of rice, fruit, livestock and other items
AFP via Getty
50/50 6 July 2020
A healthcare worker checks the temperature of residents during a check-up campaign in Mumbai, India
Reuters
“As previous government statements have made clear, we remain committed to securing the immediate and permanent release of all arbitrarily detained dual British nationals in Iran and regularly lobby for their release at the highest levels.
“This includes through the prime minister, the foreign secretary and the British ambassador in Tehran.”
