Iran's Ambassador Denies Link Between Tehran's Debt Collection from London and Nazanin Zaghari's Case

Iran's ambassador to London has rejected any connection between the repayment of a "£450 million debt owed by Britain to Iran" and the release of Nazanin Zaghari. Hamid Baeidinejad announced on Telegram on Friday, November 17, that after two decades of legal disputes, the repayment of the debt has reached its "final stage" and is expected to be paid in the coming days. Baeidinejad described reports linking the repayment to Zaghari's release as a "completely incorrect perception." On Thursday, Bahram Qasemi, the spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, and a spokesperson for the British Prime Minister's office, who wished to remain anonymous, stated that there is "no connection" between the two issues. The possibility of Zaghari's release in exchange for the repayment of the British debt was first raised by her husband. Richard Ratcliffe told the British newspaper Times on November 21, 2016, that Iran has kept his wife as a bargaining chip regarding the collection of its debt from a 40-year-old arms deal. On January 6 of the previous year, Ratcliffe reported that a hearing regarding his wife's case was held without family members present, but with her lawyer and "a large number of members of the Revolutionary Guards from Tehran and Kerman" in attendance, and that Zaghari's detention has reasons beyond her activities and relates to Tehran-London relations. He emphasized that Iran demands the payment of the pre-revolutionary arms purchase debt in exchange for Zaghari's release, a position that Iranian officials have denied. The British newspaper Telegraph claimed on Wednesday that the British government is prepared to pay £400 million, equivalent to $527 million, to Iran in exchange for Zaghari's release. This amount is Iran's claim from a contract made 40 years ago during the last Shah of Iran for the purchase of arms from Britain. According to an agreement signed in 1971 between Tehran and London, 1,500 Chieftain tanks were to be delivered to Iran. Before the 1979 revolution, 185 tanks were delivered to Iran, but after the revolution, Britain refrained from issuing export licenses for arms to Iran. Ultimately, after Iran's complaint, the Hague Court ruled in 2001 that the payment for these tanks should be made. Now, the Iranian ambassador in London, referring to eight years of negotiations between the legal teams of both parties, stated that the amount Britain owes Iran was determined in 2009, but due to sanctions, the payment was delayed until after the lifting of banking sanctions, and the money is expected to be deposited into the Central Bank of Iran's account in the coming days. Baeidinejad was introduced as Iran's ambassador to London just over a year ago, at a time when Zaghari's family had reported the issuance of a court ruling regarding her. Iran had previously agreed in a separate deal with the U.S. during the implementation of the nuclear agreement to release four Iranian-American dual nationals in exchange for receiving its old claim from the United States; a mechanism similar to the speculations currently surrounding the repayment of the British debt and Zaghari's case. After this exchange, the then U.S. government faced criticism for allegedly paying millions of dollars to the Islamic Republic in exchange for the release of its citizens from Iranian prisons. Although officials from the Barack Obama administration have denied paying ransom to Iran in this matter and describe the repayment of the previous U.S. debt to Iran as the result of a separate agreement, the American newspaper Wall Street Journal reported in late August that U.S. officials and informed sources stated that the U.S. did not allow the transfer of $1.3 billion to Iran until three Iranian-American prisoners were released from Tehran.