Select committee: Foreign Affairs Committee
Conclusion 29
Sixth Report - Stolen years: combatting state hostage diplomacy
Published 4 Apr 2023
Paragraph 87
Addressed to Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
Foreign Affairs Committee The FCDO’s approach to state level hostage situations All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
There is compelling evidence that the repayment of the IMS debt became a precondition for the release of UK nationals from Iran. The failure to pay it sooner was highly regrettable and almost certainly adversely affected the length of detentions by limiting diplomatic options for negotiating an earlier release and brought significant suffering.
From: Foreign Affairs Committee, Sixth Report - Stolen years: combatting state hostage diplomacy (HC 166), paragraph 87, 4 April 2023
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 6 July 2023 (deadline 4 June 2023).