release of papers from 1990 at the beginning of 2017 revealed that the Thatcher government decided to take no action against Iraq out of an anxiety that doing so might risk British exports. Norman Lamont, chief secretary to the treasury in 1990, told The Observer: "There was some argument about how British he was – he did have an Iranian passport and that was the decisive thing: he wasn't a British citizen". Bazoft qualified for British residency. Iranian state radio IRIB only referred to the case as "the annoyance of the UK government over the execution of English journalist Farzad Bazoft". Later, the Iranian religious conservative daily Kayhan sarcastically wrote of an Iranian expat thinker that "There was only one martyr in Iran–Iraq War and that was Farzad Bazoft." By this, the newspaper wanted to show that the Iranian diaspora, which is not favoured by the rulers of Iran, undervalue the people who were killed in the war in defence of the country. References External links Radio 4 - Witness - Farzad Bazoft - Observer journalist in Baghdad Farzad Bazoft: tough UK action to save journalist was not forthcoming (Guardian) 1958 births 1990 deaths British people executed abroad Executed British people British reporters and correspondents Burials at Highgate Cemetery Iranian emigrants to the United Kingdom Iranian journalists Iranian people executed abroad Executed Iranian people Iraq–United Kingdom relations Journalists killed in Iraq The Observer people People executed by Iraq by hanging People convicted of spying for Israel 20th-century executions by Iraq 20th-century journalists