Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe Is Released And 'On Her Way Home' From Iran

Her sister-in-law Rebecca Ratcliffe said: "It feels like we are on the home run now but until she leaves that airport we can’t quite believe it."
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and her daughter Gabriella
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and her daughter Gabriella
HuffPost UK

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is about to leave Iran where she has been detained for nearly six years, according to reports.

The mother-of-one was booked on a flight to London along with British-Iranian businessman Anousheh Ashouri, according to their lawyer Hojjat Kermani.

Her MP Tulip Siddiq also tweeted: “Nazanin is at the airport in Tehran and on her way home.

“I came into politics to make a difference, and right now I’m feeling like I have. More details to follow.”

A British negotiating team had been working in Tehran to secure the release of a number of dual nationals.

Just a few hours before the announcement Boris Johnson described the talks as “moving forward” and “going right up to the wire”.

And only yesterday it was revealed that Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 43, had her British passport returned to her.

Nazanin is at the airport in Tehran and on her way home.

I came into politics to make a difference, and right now I’m feeling like I have.

More details to follow. #FreeNazanin

— Tulip Siddiq (@TulipSiddiq) March 16, 2022

Her sister-in-law Rebecca Ratcliffe said it felt like they were on the “home run”, telling the BBC: “It is quite emotional day today. It feels like we are on the home run now but until she leaves that airport we can’t quite believe it.

“We found out about an hour ago that Nazanin had been picked up and taken to the airport with her parents. She is still actually under Iranian control in the airport.

“She is still not free but it definitely feels she is about to be.”

The apparent breakthrough will bring an end to the gruelling ordeal for Zaghari-Ratcliffe which began in 2016 when she was detained at Imam Khomeini airport after a holiday to visit family in Iran with her daughter Gabriella.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arrested by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard on trumped up charges of plotting against the regime - which she has always denied.

Gabriella was just 22 months old at the time.

Her mother was sentenced to five years in the notorious Evin Prison and has been detained in Iran ever since.

Gabriella spent three-and-a-half years living with her maternal grandparents in Iran, visiting her mother in prison each week and Skyping her father in the UK.

Gabriella, the daughter of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Richard Ratcliffe
Gabriella, the daughter of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Richard Ratcliffe
Kirsty O'Connor - PA Images via Getty Images

She returned to the UK to live with her father and start school in October 2019, hoping that her mother would soon follow behind.

Today’s news comes after UK foreign secretary Liz Truss strongly suggested this morning that Britain was about to settle a £400 million debt to Iran relating to a contract for undelivered tanks.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s detention in Iran has long been linked to the decades-old debt, although Britain denies the two issues are linked.

Iranian state media said the UK has “settled a long-overdue debt” of around £400 million to Tehran.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated. Follow HuffPost UK on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Close

What's Hot