“I believe that the meaning of freedom is never going to be complete as to such time that all of us who are unjustly detained in Iran are reunited with our families,” the British-Iranian national told a press conference in London on Monday, the UK’s PA Media reported.
The release of Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anousheh Ashouri was touted as a “huge achievement” for British diplomacy by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, having resolved an issue that had been on the national agenda for years.
The release last week took place as world powers, including the United Kingdom, come close to concluding talks to revive the 2015 agreement that placed curbs on Tehran’s nuclear program. The UK paid Iran around $520 million to settle a 40-year-old debt for the release.
It was however the conclusion of just one chapter in a long history of prisoners that have become bargaining chips in the political squabbles between the Islamic Republic and the West.
Western powers have denied any links between the releases and the nuclear talks, but their timing had some opponents of the arrangement referring to the prisoners as “hostages” and the transaction as a “ransom payment.”
Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who served under the Donald Trump administration that withdrew from the 2015 agreement, slammed the UK’s payment to Iran, calling it “blood money.”
Tehran has repeatedly denied the accusation, saying the arrests were made on charges of “national security” and “espionage.” Iran doesn’t recognize dual citizenship.
Despite the denial of links to the nuclear talks, activity around the arrest and release of dual national Iranians has in the past given an indication of where talks may be headed.
The number of dual nationals arrested by Iran, for example, had spiked by 2015, when the agreement was signed.
Not all dual nationals were arrested by Iran for the same reasons, said Trita Parsi.
“Some people that were taken early on in the JCPOA were actually deliberately taken by hardline elements [within Iran] who wanted to make sure that the potential for the JCPOA to translate into a bigger warmup in relations between the US and Iran would not happen,” he said, referring to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, as the 2015 agreement is known.
The release of prisoners from one side, however, is usually accompanied by some form of exchange, be it a prisoner swap or a settlement of old disputes, said Parsi, adding that Iranian prisoners in Western countries are usually those who violated sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
“The Iranians consider these [imprisonments] to be illegitimate and deem that as essentially hostage-taking by the West,” he said.
More arrests followed the 2016 releases, including that of US citizen Baquer Namazi, who flew to Tehran to help free his son Siamak Namazi, also a US citizen.
Jason Razaian, a former Tehran bureau chief for the Washington Post who was among the prisoners freed in 2016, said the issue of prisoners needs to be forced to the front of the agenda in talks with Iran “so that you’re not risking the lives of innocent people.”
“I understood that very well when I was sitting [in an Iranian prison) that that wasn’t going to happen; I was never going to be the number one priority,” he told CNN. “Let’s turn it around; let’s make it the number one priority.”
Parsi said plans for more releases may be underway.
The following are Americans held in Iran who are likely to come up in negotiations between the Biden administration and the Islamic Republic as nuclear talks progress:
- Emad Shargi: The Iranian American businessman was first arrested in 2018 while working for a technology investment company. Shargi spent eight months in jail and was released on bail but has a travel ban. In November 2020, he was sentenced to 10 years in jail by a Revolutionary Court for espionage charges. His family says he’s innocent.
- Siamak and Baquer Namazi: Siamak Namazi was arrested and detained in October 2015 and a year later was convicted of “collusion with an enemy state” — the United States — and sentenced to 10 years in prison. His elderly father, Baquer, was arrested and detained in February 2016 after being lured to Iran under the false premise that he would be able to see his son. Baquer was released from prison in 2018 on medical grounds, be he is banned from traveling. Their family says they are innocent.
- Morad Tahbaz: An Iranian American environmentalist who also holds British nationality, Tahbaz was arrested in 2018, and in 2019 was sentenced to 10 years in prison on charges of “spying” and “collusion against Iran’s national security.” He was released from prison last week and later taken back to prison to fit an ankle tag. His family has denied the charges against him.
- Robert Levinson: A former FBI agent who disappeared in Iran more than a decade ago, Levinson became the longest held US citizen in history in 2016. Levinson traveled to Kish Island, Iran, in early March 2007, according to State Department officials, and was never publicly seen or heard from again. His family believes he is dead.
Additional reporting by Adam Pourahmadi, CNN
Other top Middle East news
Germany in talks with Qatar on long-term gas supplies to reduce Russian dependence
Germany and Qatar are negotiating a long-term energy partnership, government officials from both sides said Sunday, as Europe’s biggest economy seeks to become less dependent on Russian energy sources.
- Background: Qatar had previously said that neither Qatar nor any other single country has the capacity to replace Russian gas supplies to Europe in the event of disruption. With most of Qatari volumes locked into long-term contracts with mostly Asian buyers, the amount of divertable volumes that can be shipped to Europe is only 10-15%, the energy minister said last month.
- Why it matters: Russia is the largest supplier of gas to Germany, and German economy minister Robert Habeck has launched several initiatives to lessen his country’s energy dependence on Russia since it invaded its neighbor Ukraine.
Yemen Houthis attack Saudi energy facilities, refinery output hit
Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi group fired missiles and drones at Saudi energy and water desalination facilities, causing a temporary drop in output at a refinery but no casualties, the Saudi energy ministry on Sunday. In a separate statement, the foreign ministry said that the attack represented a direct threat to the security of oil supplies and that it won’t incur responsibility for any shortage of oil on the market as a result.
- Background: Saudi Arabia has struggled to extricate itself from the war in Yemen, which has left tens of thousands dead and millions facing starvation. Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia have also endangered the kingdom’s airports, oil facilities and caused some civilian deaths.
- Why it matters: Any further disruption to oil supplies could be a big problem for the global economy. The attacks could also complicate hopes of a UN-brokered truce during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which starts in April. It was unclear if both sides had agreed on the UN plans.
Syria’s Assad welcomed in the UAE, Washington ‘troubled’
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad visited the United Arab Emirates on Friday, in his first visit to an Arab state since the Syrian war first began in 2011. Assad met with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, as well as Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum. Washington said it was “profoundly disappointed and troubled” by the visit.
- Background: Arab states sidelined the Syrian president more than a decade ago, cutting off ties and suspending Syria’s membership from the Arab league after international outcry against what the UN described as “crimes against humanity and war crimes.”
- Why it matters: A number of Arab states are now taking a softer tone with the Syrian regime, carving out direct channels of communication in an effort to bring Assad back into the Arab fold — a phenomenon that anti-regime activists have strongly opposed. The UAE has been at the forefront of the efforts.
What’s trending
Saudi Arabia: #FancyDressFestival
The Saudi capital Riyadh hosted a public fancy dress event over the weekend as part of the Riyadh Season festival, with young men and women donning their favorite anime characters’ outfits in Riyadh City Boulevard, an entertainment hub. Winners of a competition for the best dressed were given cars as prizes.
Turkey: #NoOneCanPassDardanelles
Turks marked the 110th anniversary of the Gallipoli campaign from the First World War with tributes to Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the modern Turkish republic, who was a commander at Gallipoli. During the campaign, Allied powers tried to take control of the Dardanelles strait in order to establish a direct sea line to their ally the Russian Empire, and their failure to do so is marked in Turkey today as a victory. A hashtag about Ataturk was trending globally. Turkey’s strategic waterways have been on the global radar amid Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Regional: #Mothers_Day
Mother’s Day is celebrated on March 21 in most Arab countries. Originally a Western holiday, the story of its emergence in the Middle East goes back to the late Egyptian duo of journalist brothers Mostafa and Ali Amin, who in the 1950s called for the state to officially honor Egyptian mothers. Cairo formally announced the holiday in 1956, choosing to mark it on the first day of spring. Other Arab states then followed. Mother’s Day is celebrated by many countries around the world on May 9, though other nations mark it on different days of the year.
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