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MPs are to examine why ministers delayed paying a debt to Iran even though they knew the payment was likely to lead to the release of two British-Iranian detainees.

The foreign affairs select committee formally confirmed it was launching an inquiry adding that Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori deserved the truth. Both were released a fortnight ago and returned to the UK from Iran after payment of the 400m debt on the understanding the money was used for humanitarian purposes.

The committee chair, Tom Tugendhat, said: After years of imprisonment in extremely difficult circumstances Nazanin and Anoosheh are right to ask for answers. The pair had been held for almost six years and more than four years respectively in Iran.

The Middle East minister, Alistair Burt, has already written to the committee saying he had contacts with Iranian ministers who repeatedly told him that the UK refusal to pay the debt was making the dual nationals release more difficult to secure. He said he argued inside the government that the 400m sum was not a ransom, but an internationally acknowledged debt.

The debt arose out of an upfront payment in 1971 to the UK by the Iranian government under the Shah of Iran for more than 1,700 Chieftain tanks.

Only 175 of the tanks were delivered by the UK despite receiving the Iranian money due to the takeover of Iran by a revolutionary regime in 1979.

Tulip Siddiq, the Labour MP representing Zaghari-Ratcliffe, had called for the select committee inquiry into the Foreign Office handling of the issue. She said: I know that the Foreign Office cannot reasonably be held responsible for the arbitrary detention of its nationals abroad, but it also cannot escape scrutiny and challenge for its clear shortcomings in trying to secure their release particularly from Iran. Other countries including Australia, France, Germany, Canada and the US have had greater success in securing the fair treatment and release of prisoners held for leverage on false charges.

The husband of Nazanin, Richard, and I have known since the start that Nazanins imprisonment was linked to the historic debt we owed to Iran, yet it was only after many years of pressure that this was finally resolved. While in Iran, Nazanin was blindfolded, handcuffed, interrogated and subjected to solitary confinement, sleep deprivation and torture. The government has serious questions to answer about why this was allowed to happen to an innocent British citizen, who was caught as a pawn in a political dispute between two countries.

The inquiry should look at why the deal that the UK and Iran supposedly made in 2021 to resolve the debt and bring Nazanin home collapsed.

Originally posted here:
MPs to examine why UK delayed Iran payment that freed detainees - The Guardian

A German-Iranian dissident facing the threat of the death penalty in Tehran has been allowed to call his family from solitary confinement for the first time in seven months, his family said on Friday.

Jamshid Sharmahd has been kept in isolation at a secret location since he was snatched by Iranian agents while travelling to India in August 2020, his family said.

His family believe a growing public campaign, greater efforts by the German government to secure his release and the near conclusion of talks about resuming the 2015 nuclear deal in Vienna all contributed to persuading the Iranian authorities to let him call his family.

Mr Sharmahd, a US-based critic of the regime, has been accused of involvement in a 2008 mosque bombing in Iran that killed 14 people. He has denied any involvement in the attack but is currently standing trial without independent legal representation.

He has a variety of health problems and has been left with just two teeth, he told his wife in a telephone call lasting a few minutes on his 67th birthday this week.

We dont know if they knocked his teeth out or they fell out because he was not getting any sunlight or vitamins, his US-based daughter Gazelle Sharmahd said.

He told his wife during the short call this week that he had been interrogated daily and forced to sign documents. His family do not know where he is being held and he warned them that if they asked any questions, he would have to put the phone down.

The software engineer complained of high blood pressure, shortness of breath and difficulties walking because of the lack of space to exercise in his tiny cell.

He also said he was not receiving his medicine on time, a similar complaint to other dual-nationals held in Iran. He needs medicine every three hours for Parkinsons disease.

His voice was very, very weak, said his daughter. Im very afraid for my dads health even if they dont give him the death sentence.

Mr Sharmahd built the website for the Kingdom Assembly of Iran or Tondar a US-based group that sought the overthrow of the Iranian regime and replacement with the monarchy.

The group claimed responsibility of the 2008 mosque attack on the website. Iran claims Mr Sharmahd headed its militant wing but his family say he has never been involved in terrorism.

Mr Sharmahd was previously targeted in a 2009 assassination plot at his home in California, but the plot was foiled when a member of the team confessed to police.

An Iranian government agent later pleaded guilty to paying a hitman $32,000 to kill Mr Sharmahd.

His family have pinned their hopes on him being released as a condition of the US resuming the 2015 nuclear deal. The US said this week there were only a small number of issues outstanding before an agreement could be wrapped up.

Some 20 foreign and dual national prisoners including from the US, UK, Canada, Germany, France, Sweden and Austria are held in Iran, most detained while visiting family or conducting business. Most have been jailed on national security charges that their governments say are fabricated.

Rights group Amnesty International said Mr Sharmahd was at risk from a grossly unfair trial and had been detained in circumstances akin to enforced disappearance .

Updated: April 01, 2022, 8:11 PM

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Dual-national dissident jailed in Iran calls family for first time in months - The National

Russias flagship airline Aeroflot will resume flights to Iran today. The resumption comes nearly one month after Russia suspended Aeroflots

Russias Aeroflot will resume flights to Iran starting from today Photo: Islamic Republic News Agency

Russias flagship airline Aeroflot will resume flights to Iran today.

The resumption comes nearly one month after Russia suspended Aeroflots global operations in response to European countries halting flights to (and over) Russia. Required by international sanctions imposed on Moscow, major aviation lessors were given until March 28 to obtain their aircraft in Russia. Russia had leased over 500 airplanes across all of its airlines. Lessors failed to seize most planes as they were not voluntarily returned and lessors were not allowed into the country. Further, Putin signed a bill in mid-March allowing Russian airlines to re-register foreign aircraft to the domestic registry.

As a result, lessors have been thrust into default. In the medium to long term, the business community in the West is unlikely to lease aircraft to Russia again as companies have recently signaled hesitation to market re-entry. Since most of the worlds major aircraft leasing companies reside in the West, Russia may try to offset the absence of new aircraft by increasing domestic production. However, it wont be sustainable due to a lack of qualified aircraft engineers. Thus, Moscow will also likely pursue commercial deals with China, which has several large aircraft leasing companies.

Wake up smarter with an assessment of the stories that will make headlines in the next 24 hours. DownloadThe Daily Brief.

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Russia's Aeroflot resumes flights to Iran - Foreign Brief

Just when you thought it couldnt get any worse, it does. The Biden administration is working on a plan that would make the world a far more dangerous place.

Its a plot with three steps, all terrible and each arguably worse than the previous one.

Step One is the determination to make a new sweetheart nuclear deal with Iran. There is no good reason, only the fetish to undo everything Donald Trump did.

He wisely scuttled the first bad deal, so President Biden is hellbent on making a new one, and is close to the finish line, meaning Iran could escape sanctions and its oil could hit the world market.

Step Two in the budding disaster is that the White House is letting the butcher of Ukraine, Vladimir Putin, broker the talks between America and Iran. As I noted last week, on one hand, Putin is a war criminal raining death and destruction on millions of civilians, and on the other hand, we trust him to make an ironclad deal that blocks the mad mullahs from getting the ultimate weapons of mass destruction.

Oh, and in consideration of Putins efforts for world peace, any construction work Russia does in Iran related to the nuke deal would be exempt from sanctions imposed over Ukraine. As Biden would say, no joke.

If this sounds absolutely insane, get a load of Step Three. The Biden bots are actively considering, as a bonus to the mullahs, removing the terrorist designation of their main military group, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Recall that Trump droned the longtime commander of the Guards elite Quds Force, Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, who was responsible for killing and maiming thousands of American soldiers in Iraq. Soleimani had spread terror in the region for decades, yet Biden said during the 2020 campaign he would not have ordered the hit.

His objection is probably relevant to the fact that Iran added the demand about removing the terror label. They figured they were pushing on an open door with the appeaser in chief.

For Biden, hell likely say yes to the demand for the same reason he wants a whole new deal in the first place: Trump. The former president put the terror designation on the Revolutionary Guards in 2019, a year before he eliminated Soleimani.

Reports say all the group must do is pledge to make nice and stop killing Irans enemies across the Middle East and a separate agreement will lift the sanctions blocking its financing, travel, etc., as if its the Chamber of Commerce.

The whole notion is so far off the charts that the Jewish News Syndicate reports that Israeli leaders, already unhappy about the prospect of any deal with Iran, initially refused to believe the White House would even consider giving a free pass to the Revolutionary Guards.

Convinced the proposal is real, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid issued a furious statement denouncing the group as responsible for attacks on American civilians and American forces throughout the Middle East and said it was behind plans to assassinate senior American government officials.

Bennett and Lapid continued: The IRGC were involved in the murder of hundreds of thousands of Syrian civilians; they destroyed Lebanon and they are brutally oppressing Iranian civilians. They kill Jews because they are Jews, Christians because they are Christians, and Muslims because they refuse to surrender to them.

Former American diplomats who have advised both Democrats and Republicans in the region agreed the idea stinks.

Dennis Ross tweeted that the concept makes us look naive and, citing the groups recent rocket attacks in Iraq that nearly struck an American consulate, added: For the IRGC, which admitted this week to firing rockets into Erbil, to promise to de-escalate regionally is about as credible as Putin saying Russia would not invade Ukraine.

Ambassador Martin Indyk tweeted that removing the Guards from the terror list would be seen as a betrayal by many US allies who suffered from their brutal terrorism.

Nonetheless, it looks as if Biden wants to give the terrorists a pass in exchange for a vague promise. The White House has said no decision has been reached, which probably means it has but officials wont defend it publicly until the agreement is signed.

There is one potential roadblock to all the madness, and that is the Senate. Because the entire package is new, Senate approval is required.

Many people believe it should be considered a formal treaty, which would require two-thirds support. Instead, Democrats are likely to try to use an end run similar to the one they used in 2015 to get the first deal through.

After a GOP-led filibuster effort failed, 58 to 42, the pact was deemed approved through what one critic called brilliant political subterfuge. That critic, Eric R. Mandel, director of the Middle East Political Information Network, writes in The Hill: So, lets recap: Forty-two senators were able to bind America to an agreement that should have required the votes of 66 senators for a treaty.

If the Senate lets anything like that happen again, it will prove that Bidens love of extremely bad ideas is contagious.

Crime-wise, New York was a tale of good and bad news last week.

Mayor Adams first anti-gun units hit the streets and one team made a big bust two hours into its first tour. A Bronx 20-year-old said to be a gang member was charged with carrying an illegal 9mm pistol after being searched.

Adams called suspect David Chevarria the poster child of the failing system because he previously was arrested three times for gun possession and attempted murder, yet was released on bail.

Its also good news that Gov. Hochul finally joined the fight against Albanys criminal coddlers, saying she will demand big changes, including in the porous bail laws. One item would give judges more discretion, which is a no-brainer.

The bad news came via NYPD statistics showing serious crime through March 13 was up 45% over last year. Remember, too, 2021 saw a dramatic increase over 2020, which saw a big jump over 2019.

So in the third year of a crime wave, the cavalry is coming. Lets hope its not too little, too late to save the city.

Readers spot various meanings from the Times belatedly calling Hunter Bidens e-mails authentic.

Mark Williams writes, The news here is that the Times is signaling they dont want Biden to run in 2024.

Mary Maillis hopes to use the momentum to end the silencing of conservatives, writing: The only way is to do what liberals do. Hold massive demonstrations outside Twitter and Facebook until they stop discriminating against conservatives.

And Thomas McFadden explains the Gray Ladys switch this way: It seems the science has changed!

Read the rest here:
Joe Bidens Iran plan is a total disaster - New York Post

A dual British-U.S. national temporarily released from prison last week as part of a deal between Iran and the United Kingdom has been taken back into custody

By ISABEL DEBRE Associated Press

March 20, 2022, 11:15 AM

3 min read

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- A dual British-U.S. national temporarily released from prison last week as part of a deal between Iran and the United Kingdom was taken back into custody just two days later, his lawyer said on Sunday.

Iranian prison officials let the long-held 66-year-old environmentalist, Morad Tahbaz, leave jail on a furlough last Wednesday, the same day as two high-profile British citizens who had been detained in Iran for more than five years were freed and flown home to Britain.

The U.K. said it secured Tahbaz's furlough, along with the release and return of charity worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and retired civil engineer Anoosheh Ashoori, after settling a long-standing debt to Iran that had fueled tensions between the countries for decades.

But barely two days after Tahbaz left jail and headed to his family's home in Tehran, Iranian security forces forced him to return to Evin Prison, his Tehran-based lawyer said.

Unfortunately, we have no idea if or when he is going to be released, Hojjat Kermani told The Associated Press. He is back in Evin for the time being.

Iranian officials and state-run media did not acknowledge his return to prison. Irans mission to the United Nations also did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did officials in Iran's judiciary office.

The State Department said it was aware of reports that Tahbaz had been returned to prison allegedly to be fitted with an ankle tag.

However, Tahbaz's lawyer said he was not informed about any ankle tag and two days later remained behind bars without any update.

Iran made a commitment to the U.K. to furlough Morad Tahbaz, the State Department said. We are not a party to this arrangement, but would join the U.K. in considering anything short of Morads immediate furlough a violation of Irans commitment."

The statement added: "We are urgently consulting with the U.K. on appropriate responses.

Iranian security forces arrested Tahbaz in January 2018, as part of wide crackdown targeting environmental activists in the Islamic Republic.

A prominent conservationist and board member of the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation that seeks to protect endangered species, Tahbaz was sentenced to 10 years in prison with his colleagues on vague charges of spying for America and undermining Iran's security.

United Nations human rights experts have pressed for Tahbazs release, decrying his detention as arbitrary and expressing concern over his life-threatening health problems and exposure to COVID-19 in his overcrowded jail cell.

Tahbaz's family and international rights groups reject the charges against him, accusing the Iranian government of using the dual national as a diplomatic pawn in its negotiations for money and influence with the West something Tehran denies.

His return to prison comes as world powers try to revive the agreement of 2015 that imposed limits on Irans nuclear program in exchange for easing sanctions.

Earlier this month, after almost a year of painstaking talks, negotiators in Vienna put their work on pause." They had nearly reached an agreement until Russia demanded that its trade with Iran be exempted from Western sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine, threatening to derail the process.

We are close to a possible deal, but were not there yet, State Department spokesman Ned Price said last week.

He added: We continue to work night and day to secure the release of our wrongfully detained citizens, and that includes U.S.-U.K. citizen Morad Tahbaz.

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UK-US dual citizen returned to prison in Iran after furlough - ABC News