Tulip Siddiq demands Boris Johnson's resignation

The niece of the Bangladesh prime minister is leading the revolt by British lawmakers against UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, following his gaffe over the plight of a British-Iranian woman detained in Iran. Tulip Siddiq - the daughter of PM Sheikh Hasina’s younger sister, Sheikh Rehana - is the Labour Party MP for Hampstead and Kilburn and has been campaigning for the release of her constituent, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe. In his appearance before the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee last week, Johnson had inadvertently mentioned that Zaghari-Ratcliffe was teaching journalism during her visit to Tehran when she was arrested in April 2016. The Thomson Reuters Foundation described his comments as a “serious mistake” as the dual British and Iranian national, who works for the charity, is neither a journalist nor a journalism teacher. It is feared the foreign secretary’s erroneous statement could double the current five-year sentence handed down to Zaghari-Ratcliffe for “plotting against the Iranian government”. “Boris Johnson must retract his comments and make this right. If he is incapable of doing so, he would be wise to consider his position,” Tulip said. Johnson has since tried to backtrack over the issue, which has made his position in the UK Cabinet very tenuous. “The UK government has no doubt that she was on holiday in Iran when she was arrested last year,” the foreign secretary told the Commons on being questioned over the issue in parliament by Siddiq on Tuesday. But the Labour MP remains unconvinced: “Half-hearted clarifications are not enough. Nazanin deserves a full retraction and apology,” Tulip said. Zaghari-Ratcliffe was detained at Tehran airport in April last year at the end of a visit to Iran with her daughter. Her family has maintained that she had made the journey purely as a holiday for her daughter to meet with her Iranian grandparents. She was summoned to a Tehran court on last Saturday, where Johnson’s comment to the Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee last week was cited as new evidence for what the Iranian judiciary has maintained all along, that she was allegedly spreading propaganda against the regime. Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s husband Richard Ratcliffe, who lives in London, has maintained his wife’s innocence and urged Johnson to retract the statement and do more to bring her back home to the UK. In a phone call to Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, Johnson said his remarks provided “no justifiable basis” for further legal action and that he intended to visit Iran before the end of the year to discuss the case. Zaghari-Ratcliffe was sentenced to imprisonment following a trial where she was accused of attempting to overthrow the Iranian government. She denied all the allegations against her, but lost her final appeal in April this year. She had been eligible for parole under the early release scheme from November 23, but her husband now fears that she could face a fresh trial before that date to block her chance of freedom.This article was first published on Bangla Tribune.