The Telegraph:

The fate of a British-Iranian woman jailed in Iran has been tied to the settlement of a £400 million debt that London owes Tehran, the family of one of the prisoners has said.

Nazanin Zaghari Ratcliffe, who has been held in an Iranian jail since April 2016, said an Iranian judge told her that her release was being held up because of a dispute over the interest owed on an unfulfilled arms deal dating back to the 1970s. 

The Shah of Iran paid upfront for a consignment of British Chieftain tanks and support vehicles in the late 1970s, but the contract was cancelled after he was overthrown in the revolution of 1979.

Iran has been seeking to recover its money ever since. Britain paid money intended to settle the debt into a frozen bank account in 2002, but wrangles over the interest and the legality of paying money to Iran while it was under international sanctions have delayed the payment.

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