Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who had been held in Iran for six years on spying charges, has returned to the UK. 43-year-old mother-of-one charity worker from London, has been detained in Iran since 2016 and had not seen her family for two years.
She has been serving the second of two prison sentences, this one on parole for a conviction of propaganda against the Iranian regime.
Her husband Richard Ratcliffe said that “It is increasingly clear that Nazanin’s case could have been solved many months ago – but for other diplomatic agendas. The PM needs to take responsibility for that.”
He added: “It can be difficult to capture the feeling of a life wasting away, watching prison creep closer while we sit in the PM’s in-tray.” Ratcliffe said he had made four demands from Mr Johnson, including recognising Nazanin as a hostage, and for the UK to push for an end to hostage-taking when negotiating the Iran nuclear deal.
He also called for the government to pay the £400m debt that the UK owes Iran, dating back from a deal between the two sides over tanks in the 1970s. Ratcliffe believes his wife has been imprisoned as leverage for the debt.
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