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Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe's release 'linked to interest on UK debt to Iran'

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe (L) posing for a photograph with her daughter Gabriella - AFP
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe (L) posing for a photograph with her daughter Gabriella - AFP

The fate of a British-Iranian woman jailed in Iran has been tied to the settlement of a £400 million debt that London owes Tehran, the family of one of the prisoners has said.   

Nazanin Zaghari Ratcliffe, who has been held in an Iranian jail since April 2016, said an Iranian judge told her that her release was being held up because of a dispute over the interest owed on an unfulfilled arms deal dating back to the 1970s. 

The Shah of Iran paid upfront for a consignment of British Chieftain tanks and support vehicles in the late 1970s, but the contract was cancelled after he was overthrown in the revolution of 1979. 

Richard Ratcliffe says his wife was told her release is linked to settlement of Britain's debt to Iran  - Credit: Leon Neal/Getty Images
Richard Ratcliffe says his wife was told her release is linked to settlement of Britain's debt to Iran Credit: Leon Neal/Getty Images

Iran has been seeking to recover its money ever since. Britain paid money intended to settle the debt into a frozen bank account in 2002, but wrangles over the interest and the legality of paying money to Iran while it was under international sanctions have delayed the payment. 

British officials have previously denied any link between talks over the debt and Mrs Zaghari Ratcliffe's release. 

But Richard Ratcliffe, Mrs Zaghari Ratcliffe’s husband, said an Iranian judge told his wife in a meeting on Wednesday that her release is dependent on the interest the UK owes and that Iranian foreign ministry is currently in talks with the UK government over finalising the sum to be paid.

Boris Johnson raised Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's case with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif in Tehran in December - Credit: Ebrahim Noroozi/AP
Boris Johnson raised Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's case with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif in Tehran in December Credit: Ebrahim Noroozi/AP

“It is the first time we’ve been told that it is linked to the dispute over the interest rate. But it is at least the second time an Iranian official has told Nazanin that her case is linked with the arms deal debt,” Richard Ratcliffe, Nazanin's husband, told the Telegraph.

He said a prosecutor had at least once before referred to the debt in a previous meeting. 

“A fight over a half or one per cent of interest rate does not seem such a big stone worth keeping a mother in prison away from her baby," Mr Ratcliffe added.

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been in prison since she was arrested at Tehran airport at the end of a family holiday to visit her parents in April 2016. She has been charged with attempting to undermine the regime. 

The latest comments came during a meeting with Judge Abassi, a official at Tehran's Elvin prison, to discuss Mrs Zaghari Ratcliffe's request for furlough or home visits. 

Protesters delivered a petition and a letter demanding Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's release to the Iranian embassy on Wednesday.  - Credit: TOLGA AKMEN/AFP
Protesters delivered a petition and a letter demanding Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's release to the Iranian embassy on Wednesday. Credit: TOLGA AKMEN/AFP

Mrs Zaghari Ratcliffe relayed details of the meeting to members of her family during a prison visit later that afternoon. 

According to her account, Judge Abassi told her that the money is "Iran's right" and that Iranian diplomats are "finalising with the UK the calculation of the interest owed on the debt.” He said that she would be handed over to the British Embassy in Tehran and flown to the UK when a decision is made to release her. 

In November, senior Whitehall sources told The Telegraph that while the Government is at pains to ensure the payment is not directly linked with Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe's release, work has intensified in recent months in a bid to improve relations with Iran.

Officials are believed to have sought legal advice regarding US and United Nations sanctions which have so far prevented them from handing over the money.

An FCO Spokeswoman said: "This is a longstanding case and relates to contracts signed over 40 years ago with the pre-revolution Iranian regime. We and the Iranians reject any idea the two issues are linked. Funding to settle the debt was paid to the High Court by the Treasury and the International Military Services in 2002. Iran’s Ministry of Defence remains subject to EU sanctions."