A “change in tone” from Iran and face-to-face meetings could see sanctions reviewed and a nuclear deal move a step closer, a minister has suggested.
James Cleverly, the minister of state for Europe, was speaking a day after the Government paid off a debt of almost £400million, which could end an impasse in talks over the Iranian nuclear programme.
Wednesday also saw dual British-Iranian nationals Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori allowed to leave Tehran after the Ministry of Defence handed over the cash, which dated back to a tank deal from 1979.
Asked if it was the beginning of the country’s readmission to the international community after decades of sanctions, Mr Cleverly said the matter was “entirely in the gift of the Iranian government”.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “The release of these dual nationals has been something that all the foreign secretaries have worked on since they were taken. All our officials work on this incredibly hard.
“With the new government that came into Tehran, there was a change in tone, Liz Truss was able to have face-to-face meetings for the first time in over three years with her opposite number, I had face-to-face meetings with my Iranian opposite number. We were able to get this longstanding debt issue resolved.”
“I would hope that Iran sees that a shift in their behaviour can bring about positive changes, but ultimately they are the ones responsible for this. And if they were to change their behaviour, then the international posture towards them could be reviewed.”
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Ebrahim Raisi, the Iranian President, said in December that Iran was serious in its nuclear negotiations with world powers in Vienna, but its top negotiator admitted that crucial disagreements remained.
It led to reports that the UK was considering a so-called snapback to severe economic restrictions amid fears the nuclear programme was being ramped up as talks were strung out.
While the terms of Wednesday’s debt settlement are strictly confidential between the two countries, Mr Cleverly added that Britain had taken “every precaution” to ensure the Iranians will not use any of the payment for arms and that it will instead go towards “humanitarian requirements”.
“We owed this debt, we accepted that debt, obviously the sanctions position made it incredibly difficult,” he told Sky News. “You cannot just write a cheque, it doesn’t work like that.”
Mr Cleverly – a former Middle East and North Africa minister, who had been heavily involved in almost six years of efforts to free the dual nationals – went on to describe Wednesday as “a good day at work”.
