Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe released as UK pays Iran tank debt

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the British-Iranian dual-national who has been detained in Iran on espionage charges for six years, has returned to the United Kingdom following the UK government’s decision to pay a debt of £400million outstanding to the Iranian government for non-delivery of a consignment of defence articles – part of a defence contract signed with the Shah before his being deposed during the revolution of 1979. The payment is thought to have been impeded by sanctions imposed on Iran.

UK foreign secretary Liz Truss told the House of Commons on 16 March that Zaghari-Ratcliffe and another detained dual-national, Anoosheh Ashoori, were being ‘reunited with their families and loved ones.’

Meanwhile, Morad Tahbaz, who has US, UK, and Iranian nationality, has been released from prison ‘on furlough’ but remains in Iran.

The debt to Iran arose out of an order made in the 1970s for 1,500 tanks and 250 armoured recovery vehicles. This money was paid to a company called International Military Services (‘IMS’) which at that time was a subsidiary of the UK Ministry of Defence. By the time that the Shah was overthrown, fewer than 200 of the tanks had been delivered. A tribunal before the International Chamber of Commerce ruled in 2008 that the debt was owed to Iran, however, payment was complicated by an (unsuccessful) appeal by the United Kingdom in 2009, and the imposition of sanctions.

By 2021 it emerged that the Iranian government was linking Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s release with settlement of the debt.

In her 16 March statement, Truss said, ‘The IMS debt has been settled in full compliance with UK and international sanctions and all legal obligations. These funds will be ring-fenced solely for the purchase of humanitarian goods.’

There has been some speculation as to whether the debt was settled in cash or in kind, and the extent to which it is linked with progress on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, an agreement upon which appears to be in sight, despite earlier concerns that Russian ‘guarantees’ on sanctions exemptions had de-railed the discussions that have taken place in Vienna.

See Truss’s statement at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/foreign-secretary-statement-on-iran-16-march-2022