Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

MPs say UK government strategy on Iran prisoners not working

MPs say UK government strategy on Iran prisoners not working

Report says Foreign Office should formally declare detention of foreign nationals as ‘hostage taking’
The UK should do more to constrain Iran by proscribing the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps as a terrorist group and formally describe the Iranian practice of detaining British dual nationals as state hostage taking, the all-party foreign affairs select committee has said.

The report finds that the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s current approach to seeking the release of detainees is not working. There are least four British-Iranian dual-nationals either in jail, on a tag in Tehran or sentenced to lengthy jail terms, including Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.

“The UK government must call the arbitrary detention of foreign nationals what it is: hostage taking,” said Tom Tugendhat, the select committee chair. “The charges, trials and convictions of British citizens on Iranian soil are a parody of a justice system. Using young mothers and retirees as bargaining chips and leverage is an unacceptable form of diplomacy.

“The FCDO has faced criticism for its apparent inertia and lacklustre response to state-sponsored hostage taking, and it is clear that a more decisive, coordinated approach is needed.”

The report urged the Foreign Office to toughen its approach to negotiating the release of UK dual nationals, including by urging the Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani, to recognise that abidance by human rights norms is a precondition of normalisation of relations with the west. It said the current range of tools on offer to the FCDO to secure detainees release are “entirely ineffectual”.

The committee argued the UK “should advocate a stand-alone addition to the 1979 Hostages Convention, which defines ‘State Hostage Taking’ and prohibits its practice”. The UK should also prioritise using its Magnitsky sanctions laws to target specific Iranian human rights abusers.

The MPs also called for the IRGC to be proscribed as a terrorist organisation due to its “clear and enduring support for terrorists and non-state actors working to undermine stability in the region”.

The report also proposes the disintegrating Iran nuclear deal is renegotiated to include binding commitments to constrain its ballistic missile programme. In the wake of Joe Biden’s election, Iran has said it is willing to comply with the existing agreement in return for the US lifting sanctions, but it is not interested in renegotiating the agreement.

In an assessment that will not be welcome in Tehran, the committee found the 2015 nuclear deal known as the joint comprehensive plan of action (JCPoA) remains only as an “imperfect rump deal”.

They call for the reworking of the deal to impose new sunset clauses, binding commitments to constrain Iran’s ballistic missile programme, and improved inspection powers for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Many of the commitments in the 2015 deal expire within five years.

In the long term, the MPs said, the British government should outline how it plans to address Iran’s wider destabilising activities possibly by replacing the deal altogether. The committe said that the UK is well placed to consult with the US and its Gulf allies to hammer out a common strategy.

The MPs lean towards rejecting the US decision to quit the JCPoA, and impose maximum sanctions saying: “Disunity in addressing the nuclear issue, especially between the US and the E3 (Britain, France and Germany) has not served the UK’s interests. Instead, it has disincentivised Iranian engagement with the west and presented an opportunity for Russia and China to pursue their respective agendas in the Middle East. In the absence of decisive leadership and multilateral cooperation, there is a risk that Iran will turn further to Russia and China for the economic relief they can each offer at a knock-down political price.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
New Eye Drops Show Promise in Replacing Reading Glasses for Presbyopia
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
Top AI Researchers Are Heading Back to China as U.S. Struggles to Keep Pace
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Did the Houthis disrupt the internet in the Middle East? Submarine cables cut in the Red Sea
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
×