Boris Johnson ends Iran visit with no announcement on jailed British mother
1 min read
Boris Johnson ended his head-to-head with Iranian president Hassan Rouhani with no announcement about jailed British mother Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.
The Foreign Secretary was at pains to make progress on the case after his gaffe last month that could leave her locked up in Tehran for ten years.
He told a Commons committee she had been teaching journalists when she was arrested some 20 months ago - when in fact she was visiting family.
A Foreign Office spokesperson today said Mr Johnson and Mr Rouhani spoke “forthrightly” as the Secretary of State dropped in on a short tour of the Middle East.
“The Foreign Secretary concluded his visit to Iran with a meeting with President Rouhani,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
“The Foreign Secretary discussed the full range of regional and bilateral issues, including banking matters and our concerns about the consular cases of dual nationals.
“During nearly an hour of talks with President Rouhani, both spoke forthrightly about the obstacles in the relationship and agreed on the need to make progress in all areas.
“It has been a worthwhile visit and we leave with a sense that both sides want to keep up the momentum to resolve the difficult issues in the bilateral relationship and preserve the nuclear deal.”
Ms Zaghari-Ratciffe denies the accusations by Iran that she was plotting against the government.
PoliticsHome Newsletters
PoliticsHome provides the most comprehensive coverage of UK politics anywhere on the web, offering high quality original reporting and analysis: Subscribe
