Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian mum who was detained in Iran for nearly six years, has been released from prison. She is returning to the UK, along with a second dual national, Anoosheh Ashoori.
Earlier today, Tulip Siddiq, Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s MP in Hampstead and Kilburn, wrote on Twitter: “Nazanin is at the airport in Tehran and on her way home.” Mrs Zaghari-Radcliffe's husband Richard Ratcliffe, who fought a tenacious battle to secure her release, said it meant “we can stop being a moment in history and start being a normal family again”
On Tuesday (March 16) it emerged she had been given her passport back in what supporters hoped would be a major breakthrough. The release follows months of intensive diplomatic negotiations between London and Tehran.
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After a nervous wait for final confirmation of their release from Iran, Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Mr Ashoori were initially taken to the Gulf state of Oman, which has been closely involved in the behind-the-scenes negotiations to secure their freedom. The development will bring an end to the ordeal for Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, which began in 2016 when she was detained by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard at Imam Khomeini airport.
Here's what we know about her, why she was detained and why she has now been released.
Who is Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe?
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, now 44, is a dual citizen of Great Britain and Iran. She was born and raised in Tehran, Iran and studied English literature at the University of Tehran, before becoming an English teacher.
Following the 2003 Bam earthquake, she worked as a translator in the relief effort for the Japan International Cooperation Agency. She went on to work for the Red Cross and then the World Health Organization as a communications officer.
Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe moved to the UK in 2007 after receiving a scholarship to study for a Masters in Communication Management at London Metropolitan University.
Shortly after she met her future husband, Richard Ratcliffe, via mutual friends. Describing their first date, Mr Ratcliffe said they “clicked” and he felt like he had “come home”.
The couple married in August 2009 in Winchester. Their daughter, Gabriella, was born in June 2014.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe worked for the BBC World Service Trust from February 2009 to October 2010, then the Thomson Reuters Foundation as a project coordinator before taking on the role of a project manager.
Mr Ratcliffe described his wife as very house-proud, meticulous and tidy, and said she has a “pretty keen sense of justice”, and is “outraged” by what has happened
Why was she detained in Iran?
Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe was on holiday in Iran in April 2016, introducing her then two-year-old daughter to her parents. As she prepared to fly back to the UK, she was arrested and accused of plotting to overthrow the Iranian government - allegations which she denies.
She was sentenced to five years in jail, spending four years in Tehran’s Evin Prison and one under house arrest. In March 2020, Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe was given temporary leave from prison due to the pandemic, which saw her live at her parents' house in Tehran.
Just six months later, in September, she was told she would face trail over fresh charges. The following April, she was sentenced to another year in jail - and has been there ever since.
Why has she been released from prison now?
While initial details of the negotiations were unclear, it has now emerged that they are linked to a £400 million debt dating back to the 1970s owned to Iran by the UK. The debt surrounds an order of 1,500 Chieftain tanks that was not fulfilled after the shah was deposed and replace by a revolutionary regime.
Mr Ratcliffe has long claimed that his wife was being used as a pawn in the dispute between the UK and Iran over the unpaid arms deal debt. The UK has now paid the £393.8 million owed to Iran after it cancelled the order of tanks.
In a statement, Ms Truss confirmed the debt had been settled “in parallel” with the release of the detainees. She said it had been done “in full compliance with UK and international sanctions and all legal obligations”.
She added: “These funds will be ring-fenced solely for the purchase of humanitarian goods.” Sanctions on the Tehran regime had been one of the key sticking points in being able to settle the debt.
While there were plaudits in the Commons for Ms Truss and the Foreign Office finally securing Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s release, Prime Minister Boris Johnson was singled out for criticism.
In 2017, as foreign secretary, he wrongly told MPs that she had been training journalists at the time of her arrest – something which the Tehran regime seized on as proof that she was engaged in “propaganda against the regime”. Shadow foreign secretary David Lammy said Ms Truss “showed more skills in diplomacy than her bungling boss”.
Speaking to reporters during a visit to the Saudi capital Riyadh, Mr Johnson said he was “thrilled” that Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe was finally free. “We must always realise that, sadly, the regime in Tehran is capable of holding people in this way. I think that people do need to recognise that,” he said.
Mr Ratcliffe campaigned tirelessly for her release, including staging a hunger strike outside the Foreign Office. He said: “It is going to be lovely to see her, lovely to catch up with her.”
Mr Ratcliffe said he had been “kept out of the loop” on discussions about settling the arms debt, but “I’m relieved the problem has been solved”. He said his wife had asked him to make her a cup of tea when she arrives in the UK.
