Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, has been locked away, languishing in an Iranian prison for six years, on a charge of plotting to overthrow the government. (one might think these terrorist countries like Iran could come up with something a bit more original). British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is visiting the Middle East, had confirmed earlier that a negotiating team was at work in Tehran to free Zaghari-Ratcliffe. As reported by the AP:
Iranian state television in an on-air scrolling text announced Zaghari-Ratcliffe had been ‘handed over to the British government,’ without elaborating
LONDON (AP) — Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian dual national who has been detained in Iran for nearly six years, is at Tehran’s airport preparing to leave the country, a UK lawmaker said Wednesday.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe was given back her British passport over the weekend, raising hopes that her long ordeal was coming to a close.
“Nazanin is at the airport in Tehran and on her way home,” UK lawmaker Tulip Siddiq tweeted. “I came into politics to make a difference, and right now I’m feeling like I have.”
Iranian state television in an on-air scrolling text announced Zaghari-Ratcliffe had been “handed over to the British government,” without elaborating. Iran’s English-language broadcaster Press TV later described Zaghari-Ratcliffe as “leaving Tehran after serving jail term.”
Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s release comes after the semiofficial Fars news agency suggested she’d be released as the British government had paid Iran about $530 million. Before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the late Iranian Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi paid the sum, in 400 million British pounds, for Chieftain tanks that were never delivered.
A lawyer representing Zaghari-Ratcliffe in Tehran couldn’t be immediately reached for comment.
UK British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is visiting the Middle East, had confirmed earlier that a negotiating team was at work in Tehran to free Zaghari-Ratcliffe.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe served five years in prison after being taken into custody at Tehran’s airport in April 2016. She was later convicted of plotting the overthrow of Iran’s government, a charge that she, her supporters and rights groups deny.
She has been held under house arrest and unable to leave the country since her release.
Source AP
