Johnson has had 'frank and constructive' discussions in Tehran regarding Nazanin Zaghari

British media report that the UK Foreign Secretary's 'frank' and 'constructive' dialogue with his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, in Tehran included discussions about the cases of British citizens imprisoned in Iran, such as Nazanin Zaghari. Boris Johnson arrived in Tehran on Saturday, December 9, and first met with Zarif, emphasizing Britain's commitment to implementing the JCPOA. None of the Iranian media reports mentioned whether Johnson, who is on a two-day visit to Tehran, discussed Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the Iranian-British citizen imprisoned in Evin. Johnson had previously announced that he would pursue the issue of the release of British citizens imprisoned in Iran, including Ms. Zaghari, during this trip. However, the Independent reported on Saturday, December 9, citing a spokesperson for the British Foreign Office, that Johnson had a 'frank' discussion about Ms. Zaghari during his two-hour meeting with Zarif. This is Johnson's first visit to Iran, and according to reports, he is expected to negotiate the repayment of a £400 million debt and the release of Ms. Zaghari-Ratcliffe with Iranian officials. Nazanin Zaghari, an employee of the Thomson Reuters Foundation, was arrested last year while returning from Iran to Britain at the airport and was ultimately sentenced to five years in prison. Last month, Johnson's comments about Nazanin Zaghari sparked reactions in Britain, and he even had to apologize for his remarks. According to the spokesperson for the British Foreign Office, the two senior officials discussed a range of bilateral issues on Saturday morning, including 'obstacles to this bilateral relationship, such as the Foreign Secretary's concerns about the status of Iranian-British dual nationals.' The spokesperson described Johnson's meeting with Zarif as 'constructive' and 'useful.' However, British media reports did not mention details of the discussions between the two officials regarding imprisoned dual nationals in Iran, particularly Ms. Zaghari. Meanwhile, Ali Shamkhani, Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, criticized the 'passivity' of the other parties in the 5+1 group regarding 'Washington's inappropriate behavior' during his meeting with the British Foreign Secretary. Johnson is also scheduled to meet with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Sunday, and he continued his meetings on Saturday with Shamkhani and Ali Larijani, the Speaker of Parliament. The official Islamic Republic News Agency, IRNA, reported that during Johnson's meeting with Shamkhani, the Iranian official discussed several current political issues, including the nuclear agreement known as the JCPOA and criticized 'America's behavior regarding the JCPOA.' He called America's behavior towards the JCPOA a 'complete disaster' and stated, 'Iran, considering the passivity of the other parties in the face of Washington's inappropriate actions, will make necessary decisions based on national interests and responsibilities to counter such actions and, if necessary, will revert to pre-agreement conditions.' Donald Trump, the President of the United States, on October 14, refrained from reaffirming Tehran's compliance with the terms of the JCPOA and passed the ball to Congress to decide within a 60-day period whether to re-impose sanctions on Iran or continue with the JCPOA. In response to this decision by the U.S. President, Ayatollah Khamenei, the leader of Iran, stated that as long as the other signatories to the agreement respect it, Iran will remain within its framework. However, if the U.S. withdraws from the agreement, Iran will 'tear it up.' Iran also stated at that time through its Foreign Minister that it does not intend to be the first country to withdraw from this agreement and will not allow the nuclear agreement to be canceled 'at Iran's expense.' IRNA reports that Johnson emphasized in response to Shamkhani that 'the JCPOA is a multilateral and international agreement whose full implementation is in the interest of global peace and stability.' The report of the meeting between the two senior British and Iranian officials also mentioned several other issues, including the U.S. President's recent decision regarding Jerusalem, financial transactions and banking relations between the two countries, and even 'the sale of arms and security equipment to human rights violators such as Saudi Arabia and Bahrain' by Britain.