Call for Evidence

On 17 March 2022 British citizens, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori, landed at RAF Brizenorton having been detained by the Iranian authorities for more than five years each. Their release coincided with the payment of the UK Government of £400 million owed to the Iranian Government upon the failure to deliver on an arms deal from in the 1970s. During their detention they experienced interrogation and spells in prison. Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe questioned how it took “five foreign secretaries over six years” to bring her home. The Committee concluded in its 2020 report (No prosperity without justice: the UK’s relationship with Iran) that the range of tools on offer to the FCDO to resolve such consular disputes was “entirely ineffectual and requires revision”.

This case is not unique and presents a number of challenges to the FCDO in terms of how they deal with countries who use extra-judicial detention as a tool for diplomacy as well as the precedent their response in this case may set. The Committee recommended in the 2020 report that the Government should work with allies to develop an effective strategy to safeguard British those for whom they have consular responsibility. The report also recommended the Government take a lead in the UN to better define and prohibit ‘State Hostage Taking’.

This inquiry will examine the processes and approaches taken by the UK Government in securing the release of the detainees in Iran, and other similar situations. It will assess the likely impact their approach may have on deterring other states from using this tactic and will consider options for multilateral action to further deter such behaviour.

The Committee welcomes written evidence answering the following questions:

• What were the merits and mistakes made in the approach of the FCDO to the handling of the Iranian hostage situation and any other similar situations in recent years?
• Does the Government’s approach provide an effective deterrent to state-based hostage situations?
• What efforts is the Government taking, or should take, to secure international agreement on deterring and handling state-based hostage taking?

Form of written evidence: 

Submissions should be no longer than 3,000 words. The main body of any submission should use numbered paragraphs. Each submission should contain: 

• a short summary, perhaps in bullet point form;

• a brief introduction about the person or organisation submitting evidence, for example explaining their area of expertise or experience;

• any factual information from which the Committee might be able to draw conclusions, or which could be put to other witnesses;

• any recommendations for action by the Government or others which the submitter would like the Committee to consider for inclusion in its report to the House.

Submissions should be in malleable format such as MS Word (not PDFs) with no use of colour or logos. Submissions should be arranged in numbered paragraphs.

Guidance on submitting written evidence and data protection information is available here: Guidance on submitting written evidence.