The British and Iranian governments have given widely different accounts of Wednesday’s phone conversation between Prime Minister Boris Johnson and President Hassan Rouhani.

In a tweet on Wednesday [March 11] Alireza Moezi, Public Relations Deputy of the presidential office, said the two leaders had conferred on implementation of commitments "by all participants" of Iran’s 2015 nuclear agreement with world powers, on Iraq, Yemen and "the payment of Britain's four-decade old [£400-million] debt to Iran, of course."

A statement from Johnson’s office highlighted British-Iranian dual nationals detained in Iran, including Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, whose five-year sentence for espionage has ended but who now awaits a hearing on new charges. A Downing Street spokesman said Johnson had demanded the release of British-Iranian nationals and said that while Britain welcomed the removal of Zaghari-Ratcliffe's anklet monitor, her "confinement remains completely unacceptable and she must be allowed to return to her family in the UK."

The Iranian government statement made no mention of detained dual-nationals or Johnson's demand. However, Rouhani hinted at a connection to the £400 million ($558 million) by telling Johnson that "expediting the payment of the debt…could help resolve other problems in [British-Iranian] relations." The British press release made no mention of Rouhani saying this.

Richard Ratcliffe, Zaghari-Ratcliffe's husband, has said his wife is a "diplomatic hostage" and that paying Iran would help her release. In September 2020, the Iranian defense ministry denied any connection between Zaghari-Ratcliffe's case and the debt owed for Chieftain tanks ordered and paid for by the Shah in the 1970s but never delivered. The UK long disputed the debt but last September Defence Secretary Ben Wallace acknowledged his country owed Iran the money and would pay up.

According to the Iranian government's report, Rouhani also told Johnson that with Iran "the only side paying the costs of persevering the JCPOA," its European signatories − the UK, Germany, and France − had lost the confidence of Iranians and had reduced scope for diplomacy by not delivering on their own JCPOA commitments. Rouhani underlined that the return of the US to the agreement, which Donald Trump unilaterally left in 2018, "requires no negotiations because they did not leave it after negotiating their move."

The British government's press release on the phonecall said the prime minister stressed that the UK remained committed to making the Iran nuclear deal a success, with Iran reversing all nuclear activity breaching JCPOA terms. He stressed the importance of Iran seizing the opportunity presented by the US willingness to return to the deal and underlined the need for Tehran to cease supposed destabilizing activity in the Gulf region.

According to the Iranian side, Rouhani stressed Iran's "role and influence" in the region and willingness to help resolve the "many crises" in the Middle East "within the framework of regional cooperation and by strengthening the role of the United Nations." Rouhani criticizing the US for "interfering in Iraq's internal affairs" and accused "certain parties in the region," a reference to Israel and Saudi Arabia, of preventing peace and stability.