Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe: Gove Under Fire For Comments

[mikey4444]

First we had Boris's stupid remarks a few days, for which he has yet to apologise. Now Gove "doesn't know why she was in Iran"

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-41960006

This poor woman is being held under appalling conditions, and has been for 19 months, and her case is not helped by these stupid, ignorant remarks by Ministers that should know better.

[-Talbot-]

Why did Marr/BBC ask such a stupid question in the first place?



Why do you never appear to care about any appalling behaviour that is linked to the Labour party?

[mikey4444]

Talbot....this is nothing to do with any Party. Boris and Gove are 2 British Government Ministers and are making things worse for this poor woman.

[Hopkirk]

Has it occurred to you that they might be telling the truth? Perhaps Boris had been told this by his department.

[johnny37]

what about the stupid ignorant behaviour by the Iranians? She is so obviously not a spy. What do they hope to achieve?

[mikey4444]

Hoppy...what "truth" ? Did you look at my link ?

Gove said that he didn't know why this woman was in Iran, when the official British Government line is that she was visiting relatives with her son. So he did know....if he didn't, he should have done.

To be frank, if all he can say is things that make Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe's situation worse, perhaps he should remain silent.

Iran is using this poor woman for propaganda reasons. Its about the Foreign Office pulled its finger out.

[mikey4444]

Jonny...yes, its obvious she is not a spy, and yes, Iran is to blame. But that is why our Government should be doing something useful, rather than letting our Ministers make fools of themselves, and make her situation worse.

[Hopkirk]

Oh I know the story Mikey.

I'm just being my usual cynical self, and suspect there is more to this story than we are being told.

[Hopkirk]

Look at it this way, why would Boris say she was training journalists if someone hadn't told him that?

[Kromovaracun]

That might be a reasonable point if we were talking about a normal person who had just made a gaff, Hopkirk. But it's not unreasonable to expect a foreign secretary to exercise some diplomacy and think about what he should say before he does - because he ended up causing her further harm.

[albaqwerty]

maybe, just maybe Boris meant to say she was NOT training journalists and forgot the word not ?

A lot of people know Boris is gaff prone but when it comes to a human being being detained, he really should have kept silent until briefed.

As for Mr Gove, it would seem he doesn't know a lot of things.

[New Judge]

"Now Gove "doesn't know why she was in Iran" "

I doubt anybody knows why she'd left her husband and young child to go there.

[ToraToraTora]

//Now Gove "doesn't know why she was in Iran"//, snap, I don't know why she was in Iran. What possesses any sane person to set foot in one of these tish h0les is beyond me.

[jno]

if a politician knows his words will imperil a British citizen abroad, he should keep his mouth shut.

if a politician doesn't know what effect his words will have abroad, he should keep his mouth shut.

Pretty basic stuff, really.

Doesn't affect people on social media, who routinely don't know what they're talking about.

[emeritus]

She has Family there and has dual British / Iranian citizenship, and claims to be visiting Family for the Persian New Year. Seems a reasonable explanation for the visit.

[jackthehat]

///Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arrested at Tehran airport with her 18-month-old daughter in April 2016, one of several Iranians with dual nationality to be detained over a period of months.
She was accused of trying to overthrow the Iranian regime - charges she has always denied - and sentenced to five years' imprisonment.
She says she was on holiday in Iran so relatives could meet her young daughter.///

For those of you more inclined to post before reading the full detail.

Whole-heartedly agree with jno's comments.....

[ToraToraTora]

yes JTT but why would you risk liberty to venture anywhere near a rogue state? Even for what we would call valid innocent reasons.

[Haggisdj]

From the Gov.uk web site.

As a dual national you can’t get diplomatic help from the British government when you are in the other country where you hold citizenship.

For example, if you hold both British and Chinese citizenship you can’t get diplomatic help from the UK when you’re in China.

[Hopkirk]

Please can someone give an explanation where Boris got the idea she was 'training journalist's.

[Hopkirk]

(apologies to the apostrophe police. That's not how I typed it)

[naomi24]

//As a dual national you can’t get diplomatic help from the British government when you are in the other country where you hold citizenship. //

Doesn't appear to be a lot our government can do then. I too think there may be more to this story than initially meets the eye.