Family relationships and international relations.... it's complicated

By Emily Chen

One of the most publicised moments from Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe's press conference earlier this week was when she asked “How many foreign secretaries does it take for someone to come home? Five? It should have been one of them eventually.”

The situation leading to her detention is certainly complex, with Zaghari-Ratcliffe often described as a ‘political pawn’. Now that she has arrived back on British soil, however, it is unclear what the next move will be in this game of international chess.

Recently, forty-nine Republican senators told President Biden they would not support any move to lessen restrictions on Iran’s nuclear programme. As international negotiations continue over the programme, and with what Europe Minister James Cleverly recently described as a “change in tone” from the new Iranian government, it is possible that Iran may see the value in closer engagement. Whilst the growing number of Iran’s ballistic missiles is of concern to Britain, the UK Government needs to balance that risk against the potential for Iran to develop allies in the east.

In light of the knock-on effects of war in Ukraine and Boris Johnson’s recent trip to the Gulf failing to result in a significant increase in oil production, the UK is under pressure to address the energy crisis. Iran’s economy would undoubtedly benefit from being permitted to sell its oil. Should these sanctions against Iran be lifted, global energy prices could be reduced.

Although these benefits are timely, they are tempered by potential implications on the UK’s own relationships.

US-Iranian relations remain strained, with Iran having repeatedly urged the Biden administration to lift sanctions imposed by the Trump administration as the country struggled with the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the sanctions formally exempting medicine, food, and humanitarian supplies, foreign banks were reportedly deterred from doing business with the country.

In addition, Iran’s economy has shrunk by 14.3% as a result of the various sanctions imposed against it, meaning that the recent UK payment of the £400 million debt that opened the way to Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s release was greatly welcomed. However, some have questioned the likelihood of the funds being used for strict ’humanitarian purposes’ as the UK Government has insisted it would be, noting the Iran government’s history of supporting ‘partners, proxies and terrorist organisations across the Middle East’. As a result, some news outlets have reported on the dichotomy between the UK introducing a range of economic sanctions against Russia, yet has paid the debt and also creating a new payments system to allow European businesses to trade with Iran without breaking US sanctions.  Hence, there are concerns about the UK taking steps to support Iran’s economy, when it has been accused of repeatedly undermining human rights.

These are only a few of the considerations government officials presumably considered when deciding how to engage with Iran, an issue that has been so fraught over many years, not least over Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s imprisonment and the ongoing detention of British-born Morad Tahbaz, who was not part of the deal that saw her freed.

In the aftermath of her release, politicians are now promising to get answers to her fundamental question of why it took so five Foreign Secretaries.

Tahbaz and his family will be desperately hoping it will not take another five to secure his own release.