THE welfare of detained British residents in Iran was the topic of a House of Lords debate called by the Bishop of Chelmsford, Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani, on Thursday.
Dr Francis-Dehqani was born in Iran, fleeing as a refugee on the age of 13 after threats to her family, and the assassination of her brother, throughout the Islamic Revolution. She has not been in a position to return.
In the controversy, she asked the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State on the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Lord Collins, “if he’s willing to acknowledge the truth that these detainees are, to all intents and purposes, hostages. . . There are many foreign or dual nationals languishing in Iran’s jails, typically arrested on spurious allegations and denied access to a good and free trial, contrary to international law.
“There have been at the very least 66 foreign individuals detained — held hostage — by Iranian authorities since 2010, 16 of whom had either British or dual nationality.”
The Bishop said that “religious minorities are also systematically persecuted in Iran, and spiritual freedom is severely curtailed for everybody except Persian-speaking Shias”. She continued: “Christians who’ve converted from Islam are amongst probably the most vulnerable to persecution. They are recurrently arrested and might face lengthy imprisonment on bogus charges of acting against national security.”
She was praying, she said, “for the discharge of all British and dual nationals who’ve been arbitrarily arrested in Iran and for all those that are suffering oppression due to regime. I pray, too, for higher days ahead for Iran and Iranians.”
Baroness Northover (Liberal Democrat), who mentioned that she had known Dr Francis-Deqhani’s brother before he had returned to Iran, where he was murdered, asked in regards to the Government’s promised “appointment of a special envoy for complex detention cases”, which had yet to be made.
The Bishop of St Albans, Dr Alan Smith, referring to “broader problems with nuclear weapons and armaments”, said: “It is critical that we take steps to stop Iran’s nuclear escalation, including stricter sanctions on Iranian oil shipments to China.”
Responding on behalf of the Government, Lord Collins thanked Dr Francis-Deqhani for “her personal reflections on her birthplace, [which] is being distorted by its current government”. Detention cases, he said, were “amongst probably the most difficult, complex and sensitive cases handled by our officials and are enormously distressing for the families of those detained”.
He offered assurances that the Government was working “very closely with our international partners to tackle unfair detentions. . . Supporting British nationals detained in Iran will remain an absolute priority for this government, alongside advising against travel to Iran to stop such incidents.”
