Six years after being imprisoned on trumped up charges of plotting to topple the Iranian government, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is finally “on her way home”, according to her lawyers.
The mother-of-one is on her way to Tehran’s airport to leave the country, along with British–Iranian businessman Anoosheh Ashoori, following days of tense negotiations between British diplomats and Iranian officials.
Her imprisonment has reportedly been linked to a £400 million historic debt the UK owes Iran. Both parties, led by Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, have been discussing legal ways to pay the debt, as the regime is currently under sanctions.
While details of the transaction continue to emerge, Zaghari-Ratcliffe will soon land back in Britain where she will be reunited with her husband, Richard, and daughter, Gabriella.
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Labour’s Tulip Saddiq, who has campaigned tirelessly for Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s release, tweeted: “I came into politics to make a difference, and right now I’m feeling like I have.”
But the Liberal Democrat’s foreign affairs spokesperson Layla Moran says it should not have taken years to reach this moment: “We should never have been in the situation where UK nationals are being used as political bargaining chips. The UK Government has questions to answer for whether their actions, including those of the current Prime Minister, have prolonged this ordeal. I hope the Foreign Secretary will commit to an independent inquiry.”
