Recommendation 21

HM Government · verbatim extract Accepted

40. The Iranian Government has put detained British nationals and their loved ones through unimaginably difficult ordeals. Iran was in no doubt that its unfair detention of British nationals was a priority for this government and a major block to achieving a better bilateral relationship. Our commitment to securing their release was demonstrated to their families by regular meetings with consular officials, frequent Ministerial contact with those families, led by the Foreign Secretary and including the Prime Minister, and countless public statements from Ministers condemning Iran’s actions and calling for release. 41. The Government agrees with this recommendation and already seeks to support and advise any family that wishes to proceed publicly with a case. The Government assesses options and levers on a case-by-case basis. Where we see that there may be risk in making a case public, we will share that assessment with the family so that they can take it into account as they decide how to proceed, but it is not the case that we always judge there are risks in taking a public approach to a detention case. We recognise that the decision to make a case public, and whether and how to campaign, is ultimately one for families themselves to take if they perceive that to be the best route for them. We would not seek to stop them, nor would it change our support to them, although it may on occasion limit the detail of information, not in the public domain, that the FCDO is able to share. We treat all cases of those detained in Iran with the utmost seriousness as reflects the risk to those detained, and with equal effort irrespective of public awareness. The FCDO media office can provide some advice to the families of those detained on engaging and responding to the media.