UK inquiry launched into Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Ashoori’s detention in Iran

MPs have announced that they will investigate 'state-level hostage situations'

British-Iranians Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori smile as they sit in a plane flying over London after their release from detention in Tehran. Photo: Reuters

British MPs are to stage an inquiry into the detention and release from Iran of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori.

The Commons Foreign Committee said it would take evidence on how their cases were handled by British officials as part of a wider investigation into “state-level hostage situations”.

Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who was detained for six years, and Mr Ashoori, who was held for almost five, were released last month after the UK agreed to settle a historic £400 million ($525m) debt dating back to the 1970s.

Following their return both have been critical of the failure of the Foreign Office to secure their freedom sooner.

Announcing the inquiry, committee chairman Tom Tugendhat MP said their return was “long overdue” and that they were right to seek answers as to what happened.

He said that it was also important to look at the wider issues raised by Iran’s use of the detainees as leverage in the debt negotiations.

“Iran is not the only country engaging in state hostage taking,” he said.

“The tactic is fast becoming a tool of choice for authoritarian states and recent high-profile cases have highlighted the challenges governments face when securing the release of hostages held captive by states.

“This inquiry will examine the support provided by the FCDO to hostages in recent cases, as well as take a look at the broader picture and ask how the government can clamp down on the practice internationally.”

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe reunited with her husband, Richard Ratcliffe, and their daughter, Gabriella, after being held for six years in Iran. Photo: @TulipSiddiq via Twitter

Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori, centre, with their families. Photo: @lilika49 via Twitter

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe with her daughter at RAF Brize Norton airbase. EPA

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe with her daughter Gabriella, husband Richard and British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss at RAF Brize Norton. EPA

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori were released in March 2022. Reuters

Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Mr Ashoori with the cabin crew in Brize Norton. Reuters

Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Mr Ashoori as their plane flies over London. Reuters

Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe sits in a plane en route to London after taking off from Teheran. Reuters

Mr Ashoori gestures as he sits in the plane heading to London. Reuters

Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arrested in Tehran in April 2016 as she prepared to fly back to the UK, having taken her daughter Gabriella to see relatives. AFP

She was accused of plotting to overthrow the Iranian government and sentenced to five years in jail, spending four years in Tehran’s Evin Prison and one under house arrest. Photo: Tulip Siddiq / Twitter

Richard Ratcliffe with daughter Gabriella outside their house in London on Wednesday. AFP

Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Mr Ashoori arrive in Oman en route to the UK. Photo: @badralbusaidi / Twitter

Mr Ratcliffe went on a hunger strike in October 2021 in protest at the UK government’s failure to secure his wife's release. AFP

Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe boards a plane as she prepares to leave Tehran. Reuters

Mr Ratcliffe told the media that the family plan to find solace elsewhere for a few days. Reuters

Gabriella was not yet two when her mother was arrested. Photo: Tulip Siddiq / Twitter

The announcement of the inquiry was welcomed by Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s local MP, Tulip Siddiq, who was involved in the campaign for her release.

“While in Iran, Nazanin was blindfolded, handcuffed, interrogated and subjected to solitary confinement, sleep deprivation and torture,” she said.

“The government has serious questions to answer about why this was allowed to happen to an innocent British citizen, who was caught as a pawn in a political dispute between two countries.”

The inquiry will discuss the processes and approaches taken by the UK government in securing the release of the detainees in Iran, and other similar situations.

It will aim to assess the likely impact the Foreign Office's approach may have on deterring other states from using this tactic and will consider options for multilateral action to further deter such behaviour.

The inquiry also builds on the committee’s 2020 report, No prosperity without justice: the UK’s relationship with Iran, which concluded that the range of tools on offer to the Foreign Office to resolve such consular disputes was “entirely ineffectual and requires revision”.

The report recommended that the government should work with allies to develop an effective strategy to safeguard British citizens.

It also stated that the government take a lead in the UN to better define and prohibit ‘State Hostage Taking’.