British writer Martin Evans:

UK hostage crisis shows how costly adherence to principles

• Former American hostages held in Iran have been released for secretly paid prices.

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• Boris Johnson is considering releasing Iranian money in exchange for hostage Zaghari-Ratcliffe.

  AFP

• Zaghari-Ratcliffe's fate hung on the side of bargaining and politics.

  AFP

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The positions of states vary in the event that one of their nationals is kidnapped and held hostage, and a ransom is requested, as countries prefer to pay the ransom quietly, secretly or publicly, to ensure a safe release, and others are strict publicly, and pay in secret, so that this is not considered a form of submission to the kidnappers, or Terrorists most of the time, there is no consistent principle that everyone adheres to in such cases.

British journalist Martin Evans, in an analysis published by Bloomberg News Agency, addressed the position of the United States and Britain in this regard, as he focused on the case of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian who has been in Iranian prisons since 2016, for her conviction of "conspiring to overthrow government,” after she was arrested while visiting her family and friends, where she was born.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe has denied the accusation, and is currently under house arrest at her parents' home, after an appeal against her latest conviction was rejected.

No concessions

The British government has made no concessions to those holding it, in standard application of the "Anglosphere" policy, a policy inherited from the United Kingdom's imperial past.

An independent assessment by experts earlier this year indicated that Zaghari-Ratcliffe was tortured and threatened to separate forever from her daughter, with the aim of putting pressure on the British government, as she and other dual nationals constitute a bargaining chip for debts that Britain has not paid to Iran.

While other European governments pay millions of dollars in ransoms to terrorist groups and rogue regimes that kidnap their own citizens, America and Britain refuse to negotiate.

Even Israel, which pursues aggressively and stubbornly those who kill one of its citizens, wants to release hundreds of prisoners in exchange for the life of one man or one woman, and negotiations have recently been resumed over four Israelis kidnapped or captured by the Palestinian "Hamas" movement.

The US administration is not always strict in its practice, as indirect deals are brokered for the release of the hostages, while avoiding any public association with the payment of ransoms.

Despite this, the British Foreign Office is so committed to the principle that it is indifferent to human suffering.

In fairness, it can be said that, in lieu of a ransom stance, the British government and its officials have postponed, in the Zaghari-Ratcliffe affair, the settlement of a heated confrontation.

The journalist Evans dates back to 1971, when the Shah of Iran agreed to buy 1,500 Chivti tanks from the British government, but the United Kingdom refused to hand over the tanks to the revolutionary government of Ayatollah Khomeini, who overthrew the Shah in 1979, and refused to return the 400 million pounds paid by Tehran. As a deposit for the deal, Iran demanded to return its money, and the matter eventually reached arbitration before the International Court of Justice in The Hague, whose decision was in Iran's interest.

Evens says Britain has not yet paid the money, nor given an official explanation for its detention, and returning the money now could mean it is a ransom to save Zaghari-Ratcliffe and other dual nationals unjustly detained by Tehran.

sovereign decision

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said settling the issue of Britain's debt to Iran was a "sovereign decision of the United Kingdom".

Evins believes that there is nothing to prevent this, as America had a lead in this regard. In 2016, former US President Barack Obama transferred quantities of euros, Swiss francs and other currencies, equivalent to 400 million dollars, on a plane to Iran secretly, On the same day, four American prisoners were released.

He points out that the British-American hardening of the issue of paying ransoms may not bear fruit. In 2015, the terrorist organization ISIS held 23 prisoners in Syria, where six or seven Americans or Britons were killed, and 15 of the remaining 16 were released after paying ransoms.

A study of 1,000 kidnappings from 2011 to 2013 indicates that the number of American and British abductees was stable during this period, while others from countries responding to ransom requests increased by 30%, but the real numbers of kidnapped may be hidden. The British and US governments would describe the kidnappers as common criminals, not terrorists.

When the British citizen, Judith Thibaut, was kidnapped by Somali hackers in 2011, the British Foreign Office did not carefully consider the details, as the British company Control Risks, a global company specializing in the field of security, secured her release.

These calculations do not take into account the detention of dual nationals by enemy states.

Some authoritarian regimes like Iran do not recognize dual citizenship, so a woman like Zaghari-Ratcliffe ends up becoming a bargaining chip.

Last Wednesday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told a House of Commons committee that paying Britain's debt to Iran was "a matter worth considering" for Zaghari-Ratcliffe's release, but cited "complications".

Perhaps even more complicated for Johnson, who gifted Tehran a propaganda victory while serving as secretary of state, declaring, in 2017, that Zaghari-Ratcliffe was "teaching journalism to people" before her arrest.

This gave false credibility to the accusation of involvement in anti-regime propaganda.

Evens concludes his analysis by expressing regret that Prime Minister Johnson cannot promise Richard Ratcliffe that his wife will return before Christmas, but if the UK decides that it is right in principle to return the £400m to Iran, why should that be? Sooner or later?

The best of land is urgent.

The British-American hardening of the issue of paying ransoms may not bear fruit. In 2015, the terrorist organization ISIS held 23 prisoners in Syria, where six or seven Americans or Britons were killed, and 15 of the remaining 16 were released after paying ransoms.

• A study of 1,000 kidnappings cases, from 2011 to 2013, indicates that the number of American and British abductees was stable during this period, while others from countries responding to ransom requests increased by 30%.

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