Russia Has Not Attacked Ukraine, Ambassador Tells Iranians

Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said in a diplomatic reception on Wednesday in Tehran that Iran received the payment from the United Kingdom “a few days earlier” and the release of Nazanin Zaghari Ratcliffe and Anoosheh “was a coincidence.”

Iran’s government controlled media has been highlighting the receipt of the money for freeing “spies”.

The two were freed on Wednesday and headed back to Britain after long negotiations, according to Amir-Abdollahian. Both sides acknowledged that a 400-million-pound historic debt owed by the UK to Iran from mid-1970s was paid.

“I announce clearly that there is link between the release of the money and the individuals who had been arrested and tried on spying and security charges and their guilt was proven,” Iran foreign minister said.

There were numerous media reports, including in Iran's state-controlled media in the past six years about the link between Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s detention and the issue of the British debt to Iran.

In the past 43 years, the Islamic Republic has taken hostage or detained many foreigners and dual national who were exchanged for money or release of Iranians imprisoned in the West for illegal activities.

International human rights organizations say that the practice amounts to hostage taking to gain leverage against other countries.

Hossein Amir-Abdollahian reiterated Iran’s position as he discussed with Chinese counterpart Wang Yi the Vienna nuclear talks aimed at reviving the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action).

“If the American side is realistic, we will finalize a good, strong, and lasting agreement with the support of all negotiating parties in Vienna,” Amir-Abdollahian said. The foreign minister said the recent pause in the 11-month negotiations between Iran and six world powers could “pave the way for the resolution of issues and the return of all parties to their nuclear deal commitments.”

Wang said China was “willing to strengthen coordination and cooperation with Iran to push the settlement of the Iranian nuclear issue in a direction conducive to regional peace and stability.”

Amir-Abdollahian and Russia foreign minister Sergei Lavrov presented a united front at a Moscow news conference Tuesday over the long-running talks. On Tuesday, an US official was cited by Reuters as accepting a request announced by Lavrov March 5 that any sanctions against Russia over the Ukraine crisis would not affect implementation of a revived JCPOA. Lavrov said Tuesday Moscow had received the assurances it wanted.

More than 30 of the injured are in critical condition, 171 had lost a limb, 880 suffered eye injuries, and 850 are suffering from different degrees of burns, the spokesman of the national emergency services, Mojtaba Khaledi, said Wednesday.

Home-made fireworks and improvised explosives, authorities have said, are the main cause of casualties, although most people only leap over bonfires and fireworks. State broadcasters carry safety warnings.

Hossein Rahimi, the Tehran chief police said Tuesday, even before most celebrations had begun, that more than 50 people had been arrested in the capital.

Police usually arrest people who celebrate the Chaharshanbe Suri with dance and drinks as the national tradition is frowned upon by Islamic hardliners who see it as a pagan relic.

Literally translated as festive or scarlet Wednesday, Chaharshanbe Suri, whose roots go back beyond ancient Zoroastrianism, is a prelude to Nowruz holidays and is marked on the eve of the last Wednesday of the final Iranian month.

Nowruz is celebrated across Asia with similar traditions at the time of the spring equinox, when the day becomes longer than the night. With ‘Chunfen,’ millions of Chinese head for outdoor picnics.

The disruption has created numerous problems for citizens and businesses in cities across the greater Tehran province, such as Eslamshahr, Parand, Damavand and Robatkarim, during the last few working days before Nowruz, the Iranian New Year holidays begin on March 20.

Ghorban-Ali Qomi, Director General of Public Relations of Tehran Province, said on Tuesday that cables caught fire in one of the communication hubs due to an unknown reason, which is being investigated.

Earlier in March, authorities cited a similar reason as Internet services on mobile phones and landlines were disrupted in the Iranian capital Tehran and the nearby city of Karaj.

The government blocks thousands of websites and top social media apps in a bid to control the flow of information.

Iranians were outraged this month when a group of 18 hardliners in a parliament committee claimed that they had ratified a bill to further restrict internet and social media access.

Iranian authorities have often not revealed the real cause for such incidents. Some people reacted to the disruption by blaming the authorities, saying the outage was a trial run for the plan to further restrict internet and social media, which hardliners are pushing for.

Johnson’s tweeted the news as Iranian government-controlled media reported that Nazanon Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashuri were handed over to British officials earlier on Wednesday.

Images tweeted showed Zaghari-Ratcliffe boarding a plane and smiling inside the aircraft.

Later news emerged that a plane carrying the freed individuals landed in Oman. It is not clear how long they will stay there before flying back to the UK.

Another detainee, Morad Tahbaz, has also been freed from prison but not yet cleared to leave Iran. UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss tweeted that "I can confirm Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori will return to the UK today, and Morad Tahbaz has been released from prison on furlough. They will be reunited with their families later today."

"Both of them are on their way to the airport in Tehran to leave Iran," Reuters quoted their lawyer Hojjatr Kermani as saying. Iran's judiciary officials were not available to comment.

Iran's Fars new agency affiliated with the Revolutionary Guard announced that Zaghari-Ratcliffe is in the airport being handed over to a British team in exchange for a 400-million-pound debt the UK owes Iran.

Earlier, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson had confirmed that a British negotiating team is in Tehran.

Reports on Tuesday indicated that Zaghari-Ratcliff had received her British passport back from Iranian authorities.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss also said on Wednesday that Britain is looking at ways to pay a historic 400-million-pound ($522 million) debt to Iran, adding that she would not say if it had been settled already.

Iranian state media in 2021 cited unidentified Iranian officials as saying that the British-Iranian aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe would be freed once the debt had been paid.

"We have been clear this is a legitimate debt that we do owe Iran and we have been seeking ways to pay it," Truss said. She added that there was a British team in Iran but would not give any further details.

Iran's clerical rulers say Britain owes the money that Iran's Shah paid up front for 1,750 Chieftain tanks and other vehicles, almost none of which were eventually delivered after the Islamic Revolution of 1979 toppled the U.S.-backed leader.

The British and Iranian governments say there is no connection between the debt and the legal case.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a project manager with the Thomson Reuters Foundation, was arrested at a Tehran airport in April 2016 and later convicted by an Iranian court of plotting to overthrow the clerical establishment.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who served most of her first sentence in Tehran's Evin prison, was released in March 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic and kept under house arrest at her parents' home in Tehran. In March 2021, she was released from house arrest but she was summoned to court again on the new charge.

In April 2021, she was then sentenced to a new term in jail on charges of propaganda against Iran's ruling system, charges she denies. However, that sentence has not yet started and she is banned from leaving the country.

In the past 43 years, the Islamic Republic has taken hostage or detained many foreigners and dual national. Security agencies arrest occasional visitors or tourists on vague and trumped-up charges of espionage or anti-regime activities. Usually, the detained individuals are exchanged for money or release of certain Iranians imprisoned in the West for illegal activities.

International human rights organizations say that the practice amounts to hostage taking to gain leverage against other countries.

With reporting by Reuters