UK Environment Minister Defends Boris Johnson on Nazanin Zaghari Issue

Amidst criticism of the UK Foreign Secretary's comments that may have intensified Nazanin Zaghari's sentence in Iran, the UK Environment Minister defended Boris Johnson, stating that Iran should be held accountable, not Mr. Johnson. Michael Gove, the Environment Minister in Theresa May's government, evaluated Mr. Johnson's performance as Foreign Secretary positively and asserted that in the case of Nazanin Zaghari, a British-Iranian citizen imprisoned in Iran, it is Iran that should be questioned, not Boris Johnson. He emphasized that there is 'no reason, excuse, or justification' for her imprisonment, and she should be released. The UK Environment Minister added that it is a grave mistake to think that blaming politicians in a democracy who are trying to take the right actions regarding a woman in distress is appropriate. A woman who is imprisoned by a regime that continuously violates human rights. He further stated that if the Iranian judiciary wants to use the words of a democrat to justify its unjustifiable decision, it is our responsibility to ignore it and not play on their field. Boris Johnson recently stated, 'When I look at Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe's work, I see that as I understand it, she was only teaching journalism to people. It is unbelievable.' The reference to Ms. Zaghari teaching journalism was immediately met with a response from the Thomson Reuters Foundation, which corrected that Nazanin Zaghari 'never' engaged in teaching journalists and is not a journalist herself. As mentioned in this statement, Ms. Zaghari is the 'program manager in the media development sector' of the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Meanwhile, a few days later, after it was reported that Nazanin Zaghari had been summoned to court again without prior notice and was told that Boris Johnson's remarks were evidence for the charge of 'propaganda against the regime,' the Reuters Foundation issued another statement accusing Mr. Johnson of making inaccurate comments about the reason for Nazanin Zaghari's trip, which may have extended her prison term. At that time, the UK government stated that the Islamic Republic should not bring new charges against her based on the comments of the UK Foreign Secretary, and Mr. Johnson's remarks do not justify new charges against Ms. Zaghari. Mr. Johnson has expressed a desire to visit Iran soon to meet Ms. Zaghari, and in this regard, Richard Ratcliffe, Ms. Zaghari's husband, has also requested to accompany the UK Foreign Secretary on this trip. Richard Ratcliffe told the BBC on Saturday that he is set to speak with Boris Johnson soon, and on Sunday, Sky News quoted Mr. Johnson as saying that the two had a 'constructive' phone conversation. Ms. Zaghari was arrested in April 2016 upon her return from a trip to Iran with her young child, reportedly on charges of conspiring for a 'soft overthrow' of the Islamic Republic. She is one of several dual nationals detained by Iranian security and judicial authorities on charges of collaborating with hostile governments and acting against national security. The detention of dual nationals in Iran has been interpreted by critics as hostage-taking, and Iran has previously released some dual nationals in exchange for the freedom of its citizens in other countries.