Boris Johnson: I Will Go to Tehran to Meet Nazanin Zaghari

Boris Johnson, the UK Foreign Secretary, stated in the UK Parliament on Tuesday, November 7, that he will attempt to travel to Tehran in the coming weeks to meet Nazanin Zaghari, a detained Iranian-British citizen. Johnson faces sharp criticism from his opponents, who claim that his misleading statements have paved the way for harsher treatment of Zaghari. Nazanin Zaghari, sentenced to five years in prison for 'soft overthrow' of the Islamic Republic, is currently serving her sentence in Iran. The UK Foreign Secretary had previously stated that Zaghari was teaching journalism before her arrest in Iran. However, Zaghari's employer, the Thomson Reuters Foundation, stated that Johnson's comments were completely incorrect and that she had never been involved in teaching journalism, calling the accusations made against her by the Islamic Republic baseless. On the same day, Johnson also spoke on the phone with Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran's Foreign Minister, to discuss Zaghari's case. In Parliament, he responded to critics by saying that his initial remarks were meant to convey that teaching journalism is not a crime and that it is unacceptable for the Islamic Republic of Iran to imprison someone for such an offense. He stated, 'The UK government has no doubt that she was on holiday at the time of her arrest in Iran, and the only reason she went to Iran was to spend her holiday.' Previously, the Thomson Reuters Foundation accused the UK Foreign Secretary of potentially extending Zaghari's prison term with his inaccurate statements about her reason for traveling to Iran. Monique Villa, CEO of the Thomson Reuters Foundation, stated that 'Zaghari Ratcliffe is not a journalist and has never received journalism training at this foundation,' but was working as a project manager. Following Johnson's remarks, Zaghari was transferred back to court on November 4 and was reportedly charged with 'propaganda against the regime.' Villa mentioned that there is a 'direct connection' between Zaghari's transfer back to court and Johnson's comments about her. According to the Free Nazanin Zaghari campaign, she was suddenly taken to Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court without her lawyer on Saturday, and the same previous charges were presented to her in the form of a new case. The campaign has raised concerns that she has been threatened with the possibility of her punishment being doubled, stating that re-punishing her for the same previous charges is an 'illegal' act. Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, the Tehran public and revolutionary prosecutor, detailed the new charges against Zaghari on October 17, identifying her as 'responsible for training online journalism for BBC Persian' and claiming she was 'working to attract and train individuals for propaganda activities against Iran.' According to this judicial official, 'how to use a fake email, complex and long passwords, password storage, and the use of encryption software for materials and information were among the topics covered in this training.' The charges against Nazanin Zaghari were raised while the head of the BBC World Service had previously stated that she had never collaborated with the Persian section of this media outlet. In this context, the UK government stated that Johnson's remarks do not justify the new charges against Nazanin Zaghari, and the Reuters Foundation called for a correction of Johnson's statements regarding Zaghari.