Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe (front) and Anoosheh Ashouri disembark walks from a plane at RAF Brize Norton in Brize Norton, England on March 17, 2022 after being freed from Iran. (LEON NEAL / POOL PHOTO VIA AP)
TEHRAN – The Iranian foreign minister said on Wednesday that London has paid off its debt owed to Tehran, noting the settlement was unrelated to the release of the two dual British-Iranian nationals imprisoned in Iran.
The two British-Iranians, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anousheh Ashouri, were released on humanitarian grounds, said Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian
Hossein Amir Abdollahian made the remarks in an address to foreign ambassadors and heads of missions to Iran ahead of the Nowruz, the Iranian new year which begins on March 21 this year, official news agency IRNA reported.
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The two British-Iranians, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anousheh Ashouri, were released on humanitarian grounds, he said, adding they had been "arrested and tried on espionage and security charges in Iran."
Abdollahian noted that during the past four months, he had been in intense contact with his British counterpart Liz Truss to ensure the payment to the Central Bank of Iran.
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Britain owed millions of US dollars to Iran for an unfulfilled military contract dating back to before the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran. Britain had delayed the payment for many years citing sanctions against Iran as the reason.