National News Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe

[bazzer9461]

She has now been given her passport and after last minute negotiations is now on her way back to the U.K.
locked up for 5 years in trumped up spying charges and upon her release she is then further arrested for spreading misinformation, all this by a regime in Iran.
Welcome home.

 

[Sheik djibouti]

She has now been given her passport and after last minute negotiations is now on her way back to the U.K.
locked up for 5 years in trumped up spying charges and upon her release she is then further arrested for spreading misinformation, all this by a regime in Iran.
Welcome home.

Perhaps Boris' single most shameful episode as Foreign Sec.

 

[bazzer9461]

Perhaps Boris' single most shameful episode as Foreign Sec.

But also successive governments withholding Irans 400 million, but yes his comments were wrong.

 

[bashamwonderland]

But also successive governments withholding Irans 400 million, but yes his comments were wrong.

What comments? Referring to her as a journalist? Which she was?

 

[bazzer9461]

What comments? Referring to her as a journalist? Which she was?

But his comments in Parliament could be responsible for her not being home sooner.

 

[Sheik djibouti]

What comments? Referring to her as a journalist? Which she was?

Oh come now. That wasn't what he said.

He said she was "simply teaching journalism" ......which she wasn't...whilst on holiday in Iran

Clumsy at best, and probably gave Iran all the justification it needed to take a hostage on a trumped-up pre-text. She worked in a minor role for BBC Persia - Iran hates BBC Persia and views it as a propaganda tool of MI6.

Johnsonism at its very worst and she has paid a very heavy price for it.

https://www.theguardian.com/politic...case-for-nazanin-zaghari-ratcliffe-say-family

 

[bashamwonderland]

Oh come now. That wasn't what he said.

He said she was "simply teaching journalism" ......which she wasn't...whilst on holiday in Iran

Clumsy at best, and probably gave Iran all the justification it needed to take a hostage on a trumped-up pre-text. She worked in a minor role for BBC Persia - Iran hates BBC Persia and views it as a propaganda tool of MI6.

Johnsonism at its very worst and she has paid a very heavy price for it.

https://www.theguardian.com/politic...case-for-nazanin-zaghari-ratcliffe-say-family

How do you know she wasn't?

 

[Sheik djibouti]

How do you know she wasn't?

So essentially you believe Tehran over her employer and family?

I know who I believe and who has an axe to grind

And I also know who is a proven clumsy idiot/liar when it comes to mis-speaking in public if you care to look at Johnson's impressive back-catalogue of diplomatic gaffes. The bloke is a liability and always has been.

So on the balance of probability, I will side with the victim in this case.

Not to mention that Tehran have not provided a single shred of evidence that she was.

Can you?

 

[bashamwonderland]

So essentially you believe Tehran over her employer and family?

I know who I believe and who has an axe to grind

And I also know who is a proven clumsy idiot/liar when it comes to mis-speaking in public if you care to look at Johnson's impressive back-catalogue of diplomatic gaffes. The bloke is a liability and always has been.

So on the balance of probability, I will side with the victim in this case.

Not to mention that Tehran have not provided a single shred of evidence that she was.

Can you?

So you don't know either way.

Let me guess, your entire knowledge of this case is based on mainstream western journalism. Surely western journalists wouldn't have their own agenda/interests in such a relevant case, would they?

 

[Essexyellows]

We`ve paid the Iranian bill - she was a pawn in a stupid game, that's the reality.

Glad she`s on her way home to her family and they can move on.*


*barring the inevitable publicity - wanted or not.

 

[Sheik djibouti]

So you don't know either way.

Let me guess, your entire knowledge of this case is based on mainstream western journalism. Surely western journalists wouldn't have their own agenda/interests in such a relevant case, would they?

Happy for you to provide evidence to counter what every single "Western journalism" outlet I've seen is saying.

But let me guess....you can't.

 

[Oslernorth]

How do you know she wasn't?

It wouldn’t matter if she was 007. As foreign secretary you should know what you’re doing.
Boris unnecessary escalated the situation by being a lazy incompetent Charlatan, unfit for public office!!

 

[bashamwonderland]

Happy for you to provide evidence to counter what every single "Western journalism" outlet I've seen is saying.

But let me guess....you can't.

No I'm happy to say I don't know who is right or wrong in this one because I haven't read the case papers, any interviews or statements from the Iranian state or the victim, or any official documentation surrounding the case. Just as I suspect you haven't.

Clearly you've made quite a firm decision on liability without any actual information whatsoever. Which is very Russian of you.

 

[bashamwonderland]

What you're saying has nothing to do with the thread of discussion between me and SD, which related to how he knows she wasn't teaching journalism.

 

[Oslernorth]

No I'm happy to say I don't know who is right or wrong in this one because I haven't read the case papers, any interviews or statements from the Iranian state or the victim, or any official documentation surrounding the case. Just as I suspect you haven't.

Clearly you've made quite a firm decision on liability without any actual information whatsoever. Which is very Russian of you.

You seem to think Boris was in the right to throw her under the bus!

Why?

 

[bashamwonderland]

You seem to think Boris was in the right to throw her under the bus!

Why?

No I've actually not said that at all.

Couldn't care less what people think about Johnson, I'm just surprised by how strongly people seem to feel about something they haven't been given any (let alone any objective) information about.

 

[werthersoriginal]

Well rather than bickering can we just be pleased about a rare bit of good news. Obvs there's something in the background, not sure if we've paid the money they wanted and are hoping to get more oil off them.

 

[Essexyellows]

Shall we look at what he said?

"When we look at what Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was doing, she was simply teaching people journalism, as I understand it, at the very limit."

Simple as that - his interpretation, which was then used as "evidence" to further detain her.

Her employers then said:

"She is not a journalist and has never trained journalists at the Thomson Reuters Foundation"

Which could just as easily have been used.

And Boris visited in person, 2- 3 months later to discuss her case.

Just pieces in a political chess game and now every MP on Twitter is trying to grab the credit for her release when it was achieved by a very broad church of people - and the bill was paid.

 

[Sheik djibouti]

No I've actually not said that at all.

Essentially you have by giving Boris Johnsons, lazy, ill-informed and idiotic comment a sense of credibility by entertaining the notion he might be right.

Jesus Christ, even the FO tried to row back on it in a later statement they issued, which suggested Boris was trying to make the point that he is against anyone restrictiing the teaching of Journalism and the comments weren't about NZR per se. And I quote:

“The foreign secretary made clear that the point he had been seeking to make in his evidence to the foreign affairs committee was that he condemned the Iranian view that training journalists was a crime, not that he believed the Iranian allegations that Miss Zaghari-Ratcliffe had been engaged in such activity.”

Which is demonstrable bullshit, when the words that came out of his actual mouth were the she was:

"simply teaching journalism"

As reported at the time:

"The UK foreign secretary condemned Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s conviction for spying in Iran last week as a mockery of justice, but added that she was “simply teaching people journalism” – a statement her family and her employer both said was untrue.

On Saturday, three days after Johnson’s statement to a parliamentary committee, Zaghari-Ratcliffe was summoned before an unscheduled court hearing, where the foreign secretary’s comments were cited as proof that she was engaged in “propaganda against the regime”."

Tehran even tried to cite a letter sent by David Cameron arguing for her release as evidence that she was important to the Government and they were justified to detain her. Damn right she was important, as we all are as British Citizens (with a few notable exceptions, obvs)

Seems that it is only now you and Tehran might be the only ones entertaining the idea that she was teaching over there (whilst on holiday to visit her family) after all. And I'm not all that convinced Tehran ever believed it either.

Putin would be proud of the Iranian false flag operation to create such a pre-text to get his point across and create leverage!

 

[mooro]

Nice that we've finally paid the £400m that was owed from many moons/administrations ago - not like we've got anything else to be spending it on at the moment!