New Evidence of Britain's Silence During Farzad Bazargan's Execution by Saddam's Regime

New evidence regarding the reasons behind Britain's silence in the case of Farzad Bazargan, an Iranian journalist residing in Britain, who was executed in Iraq in 1990, has become public. Farzad Bazargan, an Iranian-born journalist living in Britain, was hanged by Saddam Hussein's government in March 1990. The news of his execution, while he was writing for The Observer, sparked widespread reactions around the world. The British government at the time, under Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, labeled the act as 'cruel,' yet took no action against the Iraqi government. According to The Guardian, documents have now been released indicating that the British government was concerned about jeopardizing its lucrative exports to Iraq. The date of the newly released cabinet notes from Britain dates back to two years after Saddam Hussein's use of mustard gas against the people of Halabja and just a few months before Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. These notes show that even at that time, trade with Iraq was a top concern for British ministers. When Farzad Bazargan was executed on unfounded charges of 'spying for Israel' after several months of solitary confinement, London promised to address public opinion by confronting the Iraqi government. However, this promise remained merely verbal, and Britain did not even impose sanctions on Iraq. In a note from Norman Lamont, the Secretary of the Treasury, to Douglas Hurd, the then Foreign Secretary, it was stated that limiting trade with the Iraqi government 'would have no impact on the Iraqi government's view' and 'would cause inappropriate harm to British industries.' Hurd acknowledged in response that 'public opinion here is deeply shocked by Iraq's behavior.' However, like Lamont, he believed that 'we have a significant commercial presence in Iraq that we must protect.' Lamont, now titled Lord, told The Observer that he does not remember much about this event that happened 27 years ago. He stated, 'I have no recollection of being involved in this tragic affair. Although I clearly remember being shocked to hear about this tragedy and the death of this young man. There were discussions about how British he was. He had an Iranian passport, and that was a determining issue. He was not a British citizen.' Farzad Bazargan, who was of Iranian descent but residing in Britain, was invited by Saddam Hussein's government to Iraq in the fall of 1989 along with a group of journalists to witness the 'elections' at that time in the Kurdish region of Iraq. This was Bazargan's sixth trip to Iraq. His trip coincided with the publication of a report in The Independent regarding explosions at a military facility south of Baghdad, indicating the suspicious nature of these explosions and the testing of ballistic missiles and chemical weapons at this military site. Bazargan, along with a British nurse named Daphne Parish, went to the site of the explosions, took photographs, and collected soil samples, but on the day of his return to Britain, while waiting for his flight at the airport, he was arrested; he was taken to a solitary cell in Abu Ghraib prison, tortured, and a month later confessed on television that he was 'a spy for the Israeli government.' In 2003, Colonel Khadem Asgar, one of Bazargan's interrogators, told The Observer that he knew Bazargan was innocent, but since it was a direct order from Saddam Hussein to condemn and execute him, he could do nothing. Bazargan's body was sent to his parents without any formalities months after his execution. Documents obtained from Iraq in 2003 revealed that Saddam was well aware of Bazargan's innocence but wanted to 'teach Margaret Thatcher a lesson.'