The Observer view on Britain’s ineptitude at securing Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s release | Observer editorial
The anger expressed last week by the Labour MP Tulip Siddiq over the government's failure to secure the release from Iran of her wrongly accused constituent Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is fully justified. This distressing case has dragged on for too long. Again and again since Zaghari-Ratcliffe's arrest in 2016, ministers have hinted at progress, only for hopes to be dashed. Now she has been condemned to a further year in jail. This is outrageous. Yet what does the government do? Nothing that makes a difference.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe is one of several UK and European citizens who hold dual Iranian nationality and are ensnared in Iran's politicised judicial system. It has long been clear that Iran is using them as bargaining chips in a wider diplomatic negotiation. Yet Boris Johnson's government seems unable to grasp the realities of this distasteful process. The Foreign Office's softly-softly approach to this case has been interpreted as weakness by some in Tehran.
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