Select committee: Foreign Affairs Committee
Conclusion 59
Fifth report: No prosperity without justice: the UK’s relationship with Iran
Published 16 Dec 2020
Addressed to Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
Foreign Affairs Committee The UK and Iran All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
The FCDO has rightly stated that the detention of British and dual nationals by Iran falls outside the parameters of the Convention which was clearly designed for the specific purpose of combatting individual hostage-takers, rather than state-backed actors.134 Nevertheless, witnesses understandably drew parallels between the motives of individual hostage-takers, as defined by the Convention, and those which have been expressed by members of the Iranian executive. Janet Daby MP argued that the case of Anoosheh Ashoori seemed commensurate with Iran’s strategy of “hostage diplomacy”135 and Tulip Siddiq MP additionally noted that Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe has repeatedly been told that her unlawful detention since 2016 is linked to the UK’s historic International Military Services (IMS) debt owed to Iran.136 Indeed, Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s husband has referred to her as a hostage, as has her legal team.137 The FCDO has been conspicuous in its reluctance 129 Foreign Secretary affords Nazanin Zaghari Ratcliffe diplomatic protection, FCO, 7 March 2019 130 Iran rejects UK claim of diplomatic status for Zaghari-Ratcliffe, The Guardian, Patrick Wintour, 8 March 2019 131 Tulip Siddiq MP (UKI0032), para 25 132 HC Deb, 7 October 2019, col 1570 133 International Convention Against the Taking of Hostages, United Nations, accessed 8 September 2020 134 Foreign and Commonwealth Office (UKI0031), para 18 135 Janet Daby MP (UKI0030), para 5.1 136 Tulip Siddiq MP (UKI0032), paras 12–13 137 Q18 [Charlie Loudon]; Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe ‘held hostage’ by Iran, says husband, The Guardian, Patrick Wintour, 9 September 2020 No prosperity without justice: the UK’s relationship with Iran 23 to refer to Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe as a hostage, and a spokesperson for the then Prime Minister Theresa May stated in 2017 that the IMS debt was not being linked with efforts to secure Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s release.138
From: Foreign Affairs Committee, Fifth report: No prosperity without justice: the UK’s relationship with Iran (HC 415), 16 December 2020
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 26 February 2021 (deadline 16 February 2021).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The Government welcomes several of the Committee's conclusions and sets out a position built on "engagement, pressure, and incentives", while noting rather than adopting a number of specific recommendations.
- On the nuclear deal, it agrees it would not be in the UK's interests to terminate the JCPoA "without a viable replacement", and says it will work with E3 partners and the new US Administration. It notes the recommendations on ballistic missiles, sunset clauses and IAEA cooperation.
- It states that it "has never said that its long-term goal is to 'replace' the JCPoA", while agreeing that consultation across the Middle East region will be critical.
- On proscribing the IRGC, it takes "careful note" of the recommendation. It says the IRGC is subject to UK sanctions, and that it is "longstanding Government policy not to comment" on whether an organisation is under consideration for proscription.
- On a Foreign Secretary statement on a JCPoA replacement, it says only that the Foreign Secretary "will update the House when it is appropriate to do so". It notes the proposal for a UN hostage-taking convention addition without committing to it.