British dual nationals should not be used as “political leverage” by Iran, according to a UK minister, who pushed back on claims in Tehran that a multimillion pound debt is to be settled for Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s release. James Cleverly, whose ministerial brief covers the Middle East and north Africa, said on Monday that the “arbitrary” detention of British dual nationals including Zaghari-Ratcliffe should remain separate from ongoing legal disputes with Iran. 00:46 UK minister calls on Iran to release Zaghari-Ratcliffe from 'arbitrary detention' – videoIranian sources on Sunday claimed a swap had been agreed for four prisoners, and that the UK had agreed to pay an outstanding £400m debt to Iran. Cleverly told Times Radio that ongoing legal disputes with Iran should be kept separate from the “arbitrary” detention of British nationals by Iranian authorities. “The British dual nationals, and Nazanin is one of them, held in arbitrary detention by Iran should be released.”

Source: The Guardian May 03, 2021 10:10 UTC