Illegal land occupation

[rooster59]

Britain to pay 400 mln-pound debt to Iran soon, Iranian envoy says

 

Britain's Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson meets with Richard Ratcliffe, the husband of Nazanin Zaghari Ratcliffe who is detained in Iran, at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office in London, Britain, November 15, 2017. REUTERS/Stefan Rousseau/Pool

 

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will soon repay a decades-old debt of over 400 million pounds ($527 million) to Iran, the Iranian ambassador said on Friday, adding that the payment was not linked to the case of a British-Iranian charity worker jailed in Iran.

 

"An outstanding debt owed by the U.K. to Tehran will be transferred to the Central Bank of Iran in the coming days. The payment ... has nothing to do with Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe's case," Hamid Baeedinejad wrote on his Telegram channel.

 

Zaghari-Ratcliffe was detained in April 2016 in Tehran as she tried to leave Iran after a visit with her two-year-old daughter.

 

She was sentenced to five years in prison after an Iranian court convicted her of plotting to overthrow the clerical establishment. She denies the charges, and Britain has called for her release. Iran does not recognise dual citizenship for its nationals.

 

Britain's debt to Iran dates from the 1970s, before the Islamic Revolution of 1979 toppled the U.S.-backed Shah. Iran paid up front for 1,750 Chieftain tanks and other vehicles, but most were never delivered because of sanctions imposed on Tehran after the revolution.

 

A British government official, who asked not to be named, said on Friday it was "speculation" that the money would be paid.

 

The Treasury said in a statement the money was frozen by a British court and could not be paid because of sanctions.

 

The Telegraph newspaper reported on Thursday that Britain was working on a plan to pay Iran the debt, as part of efforts to secure the release of Zaghari-Ratcliffe.

 

On Thursday, British Prime Minister Theresa May's spokesman denied there was any link between the debt and the charity worker's case. Tehran also dismissed the Telegraph report.

 

Zaghari-Ratcliffe is a project manager with the Thomson Reuters Foundation, a charity organisation that is independent of Thomson Reuters. It operates independently of Reuters News.

 

In 2009, the International Chamber of Commerce ordered Britain to repay Iran for the undelivered vehicles, but UN and EU sanctions prevented that.

 

Under a deal between Iran and six major powers in 2015, most sanctions on Iran were lifted last year, in exchange for Tehran curbing its nuclear programme.

 

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman said that a range of issues would be discussed with Britain during a visit to Tehran this month by Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, Iranian media reported on Thursday.

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-11-18

[ezzra]

Trust the shifty, devious Iranians to come up with any dirty tricks possible to

screw the gullible and credulous west any way they can while holding

many duel nationalities to ransom, and yeah, Iran is perusing

nuclear technology for research and peaceful purposes only,,

yeah right...

[NanLaew]

34 minutes ago, ezzra said:

Trust the shifty, devious Iranians to come up with any dirty tricks possible to

screw the gullible and credulous west any way they can while holding

many duel nationalities to ransom, and yeah, Iran is perusing

nuclear technology for research and peaceful purposes only,,

yeah right...

Shifty and devious? Like the British sitting on Iranian money for about 40 years (+ interest) and then suddenly being all benevolent and honest when someone gets locked up?

[Daveyh]

Quote from above: Britain's debt to Iran dates from the 1970s, before the Islamic Revolution of 1979 toppled the U.S.-backed Shah. Iran paid up front for 1,750 Chieftain tanks and other vehicles, but most were never delivered because of sanctions imposed on Tehran after the revolution.

 

I remember this! ....... when I was in the British Military. I was in Masjid-i-Sulieman training the Imperial Iranian Armed Forces (IIAF) at their Technical College. When the "shit hit the fan" in the 1979 revolution the whole country was in utter chaos until Khomeni returned from exile in Paris, France. We were extracted by C130's to Bahrain on a desert airstrip in Masjid-i-Sulieman used by BMY by using a "Union Jack" to signal our position to the pilot.  BMY (USA contactors) were also refurbing & upgrading  M48's for the Iranians. All these Chieftain tanks were eventually delivered to the British Army in BAOR (Germany) & some I believe were sold to Jordan, but mainly used by the Brits. Some Chieftains were however already "in country" & being used by the IIGF, but these were not the latest version, which were more advanced than anything that the Brits had with laser/nightvision upgrades etc ..... code named the "4030 Project", hence they were swiftly integrated into the Brit tank regiments in BAOR during the "Cold War". Many years later I was working in Bagdad, Iraq during the Iran/Iraq war ......... & surprise, surprise ........... during my " free time walkabouts" & being followed by "Savak" in the city I stumbled across a large area which was being used for captured enemy vehicles. There were rows of Chieftain tanks all parked up which had been captured as well as M48's. How they ended up in Bagdad is a still a mystery as the Iranians never got any further than the Basrar/Shat-al-Arab water way with hugh losses in young men's lives! Anyone out there on this forum from the USA that was in Iran during this time? Perhaps an ex BMY employee is lurking in the bars here in Pattaya??? It would be great to meet up for a beer sometime if there are! Cheers folks.

Edited November 18, 2017 by Daveyh

[USPatriot]

With what Obama paid it's over a billion dollars.

 

Let's just give more money to a terrorist regime 

[Daveyh]

............ With what Obama paid it's over a billion dollars. Let's just give more money to a terrorist regime 

 

Yup agreed ................................  I reckon we owe them "Jack Shit".

[Daveyh]

2 hours ago, NanLaew said:

Shifty and devious? Like the British sitting on Iranian money for about 40 years (+ interest) and then suddenly being all benevolent and honest when someone gets locked up?

The whole world of politics is corrupt. You gotta keep something in your back pocket for a rainy day right? Ha! 

[dunroaming]

8 hours ago, NanLaew said:

Shifty and devious? Like the British sitting on Iranian money for about 40 years (+ interest) and then suddenly being all benevolent and honest when someone gets locked up?

Let's be clear on this.  The money was owed and the Brits are not seriously disputing that.  Now Johnson is fighting to stay in his job and so the taxpayers are paying up in the hope that that will trigger the release of Nazanin and save Boris of any further embarrassment.  This all about saving  Johnson but of course the taxpayer will pay!

[rickudon]

Don't have specific information, but i think the Iranian tanks were captured during the early days of the war when Saddam tried to seize the oil region in the south-west of Iran. Of course, due to sanctions most of Iran's heavy armour was soon out of action due to maintenance/spares issues, like their air force.

[rickudon]

Many people refer to Iran as a terrorist country. Please name their terrorist attacks outside of Iran. Nearly all Islamic terrorists are Sunni, not Shia. Iran may have many obnoxious policies, but blowing up people in planes or trains, or enslaving people, are not among them.

[sanemax]

On 11/18/2017 at 3:25 PM, dunroaming said:

but of course the taxpayer will pay!

The tax payer will not pay, because its Irans money that is being returned back to them

[sanemax]

3 minutes ago, rickudon said:

Many people refer to Iran as a terrorist country. Please name their terrorist attacks outside of Iran. Nearly all Islamic terrorists are Sunni, not Shia. Iran may have many obnoxious policies, but blowing up people in planes or trains, or enslaving people, are not among them.

They do fund Hezbollah , 

[amvet]

7 minutes ago, rickudon said:

Many people refer to Iran as a terrorist country. Please name their terrorist attacks outside of Iran. Nearly all Islamic terrorists are Sunni, not Shia. Iran may have many obnoxious policies, but blowing up people in planes or trains, or enslaving people, are not among them.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_and_state-sponsored_terrorism

[robertthebruce]

The Lady in Question is not BRITISH.l.lshe is IRANIAN...born and bred...

 

they sre now saying she was spying, and now faces a further 16 years in Prison.l

 

She knew what she was going back to...., it ain’t Butlins there.

 

yes, feel sorry for her...But.....

[rickudon]

There is a big difference between 'supporting insurgents' and terrorism. If supporting insurgents is terrorism them Saudia Arabia, many Gulf states, Turkey and the USA also qualify, along with many others.