Laura Kuenssberg told us that the issue of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s detention was highly sensitive and political which is why the BBC has been stomping around in its size 12’s adding to the kicking Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is getting.
The BBC led the chorus against Boris and his comment [briefed to him by who? and why?] and are now targeting Gove for his innocuous comments.
Sarah Montague this morning [08:10] told us that Gove had ‘waded into this’ with his comments and yet it was Marr that raised the subject asking what Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was doing in Iran….shouldn’t Marr just have said ‘Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was on holiday so why do you think the Iranians are holding her and what can we do to get her released?’ Of course he wouldn’t like to ask that because the answer leads directly to the BBC’s door. Peter Allen yesterday also asked what she was doing in Iran…so again raising doubts about her activities.
Then Montague, trying to attack Gove in a somewhat poisonous piece, went down a similar avenue as she quoted Gove’s reply to Marr...
Asked on Sunday by Mr Marr what she had been doing in Iran, Mr Gove replied: “I don’t know” adding there was “no reason Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe should be in prison in Iran so far as any of us know”.
She went on to ask the husband of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe ‘He says ‘So far as any of us know’….Do you think he doubts it?’ That is, what Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe says she was doing…ie on holiday.
As said that was supposed to be an attack on Gove but that extraordinary piece of interpretation of a normal turn of phrase in fact merely gives added ammunition to the Iranians who can now say ‘The BBC thinks a second British government minister has doubts about the truth of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s claims to be merely on holiday.’
The BBC can’t have it both ways….attacking Boris and Gove [Gove having been asked to comment by the BBC] for jeopardising Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s position and then at least three times themselves casting doubt on her story and broadcasting it to the world.
I guess deposing two big Brexit supporting ministers is more important to the BBC than the life of one dual-national woman who got caught up in international politics.
Typical BBC.
Is Nazanin, by any chance, a muslim ?
If she is, I don’t think islam looks too kindly upon muslims marrying non-muslims, unless they too have converted to islam. So, the question might better be : has the iranian woman’s husband converted to islam?
I commented on this immediately after the Marr show – which was an exercise in deliberate provocation – although you will have noticed he didn’t have much to challenge James Dyson on….
Gove actually made the point that he agreed with whatever the husband said – as he did not know why she was there – which is most likely true as he probably didn’t. Why would he? He was damned if he said anything – the BBC twisted his words with clear deliberation
The issue around her being involved in training seem to be a bit of a mystery – and she did work for the BBC but it’s all obscured…Regardless it isn’t right for her to be imprisoned and unfortunately the BBC has lead the campaign to use it as political tool against British politicians instead of heeding Gove’s actually words which were to focus on Iran as the problem – not comments from Boris –
Indeed deliberate provocation as you say James Arthur-so really why is this matter so sensitive? Surely this woman who was apparently on a journey to see her parents in Iran, would have perhpas notified the Foreign Office or indeed the Iranian Embassy to ensure a safe trip or was there something else in the agenda? Why on earth has Boris Johnson been brought into the equation one might ask? well of course we all know one reason-anything that the BBC can do to muddy the waters for Brexit- as James Diyson has said on the Andrew Marr show, ‘move on with Brexit and tell the EU we are out, no you will not get £ Billions from us, the EU are playing games with the UK.’ Or words to that effect.
The BBC, and the entire multicultural Left, has no idea how to deal with autocracies, even less with theocracies. The multiculturalists assume that everyone thinks like they do, more or less. They couldn’t be more wrong.
The more fuss that is kicked up about this woman, whether she was doing something dodgy or not, the more the Iranians will be tempted to really make an example of her, just to show the West they are not to be trifled with.
So the BBC, in pursuit of a totally different agenda which uses this woman as a pawn, is endangering this woman’s safety and freedom. My sense is that they regard that as acceptable collateral damage, though I could be wrong.
RB, you are not wrong. Every report on this farce by the BBBC is led by – “The F.S Boris Johnson has stated that she was teaching journalism increasing the risk of a longer sentence” – or words to that effect. This is the latest “in spite of Brexit” tag line which is designed for countless repetition on the premise of mud sticking. Any Beeboid with a conscience would feel some responsibility as the issue with ex BBC Persia employees (irrespective of actual work content) visiting a Persian state and the possibility of a hostile reception has been well known by Al Beeb for some considerable time. They and the individual themselves should shoulder responsibility for this sorry outcome and I wish to F**K someone would forcibly remind them.
The Iranian enemy must be laughing their bits off . They are in a win – win. They know HMG will do anything to get this character out and will present a wish list knowing they’ll get quite a bit.
Al beeb is doing their work for them and until the news agenda moves on they’ll stick with it.
If only the Iranians had been able to use a European Arrest Warrent to detain her the BBC wouldn’t have been the least bit interested.
by who?
Ah well, I suppose we had better get used to the increasingly common departure of ‘by whom’. I suppose ‘by whom’ is now a bit antiquated.