A woman who has been imprisoned for six years by the Iranian government has been released and is on her way home to the United Kingdom.
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a dual citizen of both Iran and the U.K., is on a flight to the U.K., British Member of Parliament Tulip Siddiq said on Wednesday morning.
“It’s been 6 long years — and I can’t believe I can FINALLY share this photo,” Siddiq said in a post on Twitter that included a photo of Zaghari-Ratcliffe. “Nazanin is now in the air flying away from 6 years of hell in Iran.”
It’s been 6 long years – and I can’t believe I can FINALLY share this photo.
Nazanin is now in the air flying away from 6 years of hell in Iran.
My heart goes out to Gabriella and Richard, as her long journey back home to them gets closer by the minute.#NazaninIsFree ❤️ pic.twitter.com/BzEEBP840C
— Tulip Siddiq (@TulipSiddiq) March 16, 2022
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said in a statement he was “delighted to hear” the news of Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s release.
“Nazanin and her loved ones have shown great courage, strength and steadfastness through this unimaginably difficult time,” Khan said. “London looks forward to welcoming her home.”
I’m delighted to hear that Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is on her way home to be reunited with her family.
Nazanin and her loved ones have shown great courage, strength and steadfastness through this unimaginably difficult time.
London looks forward to welcoming her home.
— Sadiq Khan (@SadiqKhan) March 16, 2022
Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been detained since going on vacation to Iran in April 2016, when she was accused of trying to overthrow the Iranian government, CNN reported. After she was detained at the Tehran International Airport years ago, she was convicted and sentenced to a five-year prison sentence, according to the outlet. Zaghari-Ratcliffe was handed another prison sentence in April 2021 and a travel ban on charges of spreading propaganda, which she tried to appeal but lost in October.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe had support from her employer, the Thomson Reuters Foundation, which denied the accusations against her, as well as human rights organization Amnesty International, which in 2019 named her a prisoner of conscience.
During Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s imprisonment, she went on at least three hunger strikes, one of which was an attempt to receive medical treatment. Her husband also took part in hunger strikes during her imprisonment, according to the outlet.
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The attorney for Zaghari-Ratcliffe, Hojjat Kermani, said he did not want to comment on the situation, though he confirmed to Reuters that Zaghari-Ratcliffe and another British-Iranian dual citizen were heading to the airport to leave the country.
To date, about 16 dual citizens and one foreign national are being held prisoner in Iran, a country that does not recognize dual citizenship, according to the Center for Human Rights in Iran.
