Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has spoken publicly about the 'emotional' moment she was reunited with her husband and daughter in the UK.
The dual Iranian-British citizen was detained in April 2016 by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard at Imam Khomeini airport after going on holiday to introducer her daughter Gabriella to her parents. Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 43, landed back in Britain on Thursday (17 March) after the UK finally agreed to settle a £400 million debt dating back to the 1970s.
Speaking at a press conference in London, with Gabriella in the front row of the audience, Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe said the journey back home was “tough”. She told of the 'precious' moment she was reunited with her family back in the UK.
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“I’ve been waiting for that moment for such a long time. And I was overwhelmed, specifically to get to know Gabriella and Richard after such a long time. It was a very, very emotional moment.”
She paid tribute to her husband Richard Ratcliffe for his campaign to keep her plight in the spotlight and thanked those who campaigned for her release, saying she was “powerless” in prison. But referencing her husband thanking the government a few moments earlier, she said: “I do not really agree with him on that level.”
She said she has seen five foreign secretaries over the course of six years, adding: “That is unprecedented given the politics of the UK. I love you Richard, respect whatever you believe, but I was told many, many times that ‘Oh we’re going to get you home’. That never happened.”
She said this resulted in her finding it difficult to place trust in them, adding: “I mean, how many foreign secretaries does it take for someone to come home? Five?”
Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe told reporters: “What’s happened now should have happened six years ago.”
Speaking of her experience, Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe said is “very difficult” for her to talk about what she has been through. “It will always haunt me. There is no other way around it. It will be with me," she said.
Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe said she was told early on that there was something Iran wanted from Britain and that she would not be released until they got what they wanted.
“So, I didn’t know the details at the time. But I think it was the week two or week three that I was arrested, like six years ago, that they told me ‘We want something off the Brits. We will not let you go until such time that we get it’. And they did keep their promise.”
Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe also highlighted the continued detention of British-US national and wildlife conservationist Morad Tahbaz, who, according to his family, has gone on hunger strike after he was taken back into prison after just 48 hours on furlough.
She told reporters at Portcullis House: “I believe that the meaning of freedom is never going to be complete as to such time that all of us who are unjustly detained in Iran are reunited with our families."
