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The claim was published on Sunday citing Tehran officials anonymously.
Also read: Khamenei Shocked by Zarif’s Criticism of the Iranian Military
British Foreign Minister Dominic Raab declined to comment on the debt payment claims to Iran.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s husband, Richard Ratcliffe, said his family had heard nothing of a deal to release him.
The UK Foreign Office acknowledges there are legal discussions taking place. However, the office declined to comment on the claims of Iranian state TV.
In the program “Andrew Marr” BBC On Sunday, Raab agreed with the arrests that Zaghari-Ratcliffe was being held hostage by the Iranian state.
Raab also said for the first time that the woman’s current fate was linked not only to the £ 400 million debt the British government had to pay to Iran, but also to the outcome of talks in Vienna about the future of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
Ratcliffe has long argued that the British Foreign Ministry should declare his wife a hostage to the state, and this is a practice Iran has on many dual citizens. Iran has so far denied the accusations.
In practical terms, Raab’s harsher language may not imply a change in government policy, but this can be seen as a sign that Britain will become more assertive if talks in Vienna fail.
A key point of the dispute in Vienna is which sanctions the US is ready to lift in return for Iran returning to full compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal.
Iran needs to take steps to satisfy the UN nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, that Tehran is in full compliance with the nuclear deal.
The United States has refused to lift sanctions unrelated to the deal, such as sanctions related to human rights violations or terrorism. Meanwhile, Iran says the sanctions are only arbitrary over Tehran’s nuclear program.
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