Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe leaves Iran for UK after 5 years in prison, Boris Johnson confirms

By Karim El-Bar

LONDON (AA) - British-Iranian citizen Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is on her way home after more than five years in an Iranian prison, Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed on Wednesday.

A second British-Iranian citizen, Anoosheh Ashoori, is also on his way home.

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss tweeted: "I can confirm Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori will return to the UK today … They will be reunited with their families later today.”

On Morad Tahbaz, an Iranian-American businessman and conservationist now serving 10 years for “contacts with the US enemy government,” Truss said he had “been released from prison on furlough … We will continue to work to secure Morad's departure from Iran."

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted: "I am very pleased to confirm that the unfair detention of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori in Iran has ended today, and they will now return to the UK.

"The UK has worked intensively to secure their release and I am delighted they will be reunited with their families and loved ones."

Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a charity worker, was arrested in 2016 after being accused of plotting to overthrow Iran’s government. She was in Iran visiting family, and has denied the charges.

Nevertheless, she was sentenced to five years in prison, spending four in Evin prison and a year under house arrest. As the end of her sentence neared, last April she was sentenced to a further year in prison.

Ashoori, 67, is a retired civil engineer. He was visiting his mother in Iran when he was arrested in 2017 on spying charges.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s case has been extremely high profile in the UK, in large part due to the extraordinary efforts undertaken by her husband, Richard, to raise awareness and lobby for her release.

Her local MP Tulip Siddiq has also been extremely active, having lobbied five British foreign secretaries over the years to secure her release.

Siddiq 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.”

Reports say Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s imprisonment was linked to a £400 million ($523 million) debt Iran says is owed to them by Britain for an unfulfilled order of 1,500 Chieftain tanks.

Truss told Sky News today that the £400 million is a “legitimate debt” and that it is a “priority to pay the debt that we owe to Iran.”

The government has refused to confirm or deny if the debt has been paid.