Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is almost home as I write! She was detained in Iran six years ago as she prepared to fly back to England following a trip to see her parents in Tehran. She was accused of spying and later of plotting to bring down the Iranian government - typically trumped up charges. When Nazanin was detained, her daughter Gabriella was two years old; now she is almost eight. Her husband, Richard Ratcliffe, campaigned tirelessly and admirably for Nazanin's release.
There's a sense that she was like a pawn in a diplomatic cat and mouse game. Behind the scenes, there was the question of a large debt owed by the British government in relation to military tanks not delivered just prior to the Iranian revolution. Her case was made more problematic by the thoughtless remarks of Boris Johnson when he was Foreign Secretary back in the autumn of 2017. Typically, he had not done his homework.
Earlier today, as the prospect of Nazanin's release suddenly grew more real, he said, “It would not be sensible for me to comment until we have got a final result". That was a most apposite remark in the light of his previous costly blunder.
Anyway, in a time of war and anxiety, Nazanin's release is like a ray of sunshine. I hope that she and Richard and Gabriella can get back on track and resume their happy family life together even though that won't be easy after the nightmare they have been through.
Also released from detention in Iran today was Anoosheh Ashoori who similarly holds dual British-Iranian citizenship. He had gone back to Iran to visit his ageing mother in August 2017. Without evidence, the Iranian regime accused him of spying for Israel and stuck him in prison for five years.
Though his case has received far less publicity, his family have fought equally as hard for his release and the joy that they are experiencing tonight will match the happiness of the Ratcliffe family.
Nazanin and Anoosheh's aeroplane is scheduled to touch down at RAF Brize Norton in less than two hours.
Anoosheh Ashoori - British-Iranian civil engineer held in prison in Tehran for the past
four and a half years on trumped up charges of spying for Israel
from Yorkshire Pudding https://ift.tt/snrplJV
