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A report by the British newspaper “The Guardian” warned that identification with the Iranian regime’s negotiation for the release of dual-national prisoners may encourage Tehran to continue its “hostage diplomacy.”
On Wednesday, Iranian state television announced that Tehran had released British Australian Academy Kylie Moore Gilbert, in exchange for 3 Iranians detained abroad.
The “Guardian” report said: “Gilbert’s release raised a question to the families of detainees with dual citizenship in Iran, whether their governments are doing everything possible to bring their families back.”
Sherry Isadi, wife of the Iranian-British prisoner in British prisons, Anousheh Ashuri, asked ten years ago about the British government’s efforts, at a time when the Australian government is doing everything it can to free detainees.
Isadi had asked her lawyer to ask questions of the British Foreign Office about how to follow the same approach taken by the British administration in the Gilbert case, in order to secure her husband’s release.
The report also sheds light on the Iranian-Swedish academic detained in Iranian prisons, Ahmad Reza Jalali, who was sentenced to death three months ago and whose wife, in cooperation with the Swedish government, is trying to free him.
The report noted that there is speculation that the Iranians are interested in trading Jalali in a deal for the release of the Iranian diplomat in Belgium, Asadullah Asadi, who is in custody for his role in a failed bombing plot, and is awaiting of judgement.
The “Guardian” report concluded by saying: “The release of the detainees after the negotiations raises complex moral questions, especially whether Tehran is making a profit through hostage diplomacy.”
It should be noted that the Iranian trio, who were recently released in exchange for the British-Australian Academy, were involved in a bomb attack in Bangkok in February 2012 with the aim of killing Israeli diplomats.
But the operation was unsuccessful after the apartment rented by the trio exploded, unharmed, while Mouradi’s legs were amputated by throwing grenades at the Thai police as he fled from them in another explosion related to the same operation.
