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Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe pictured on plane from Iran to UK

Aid worker on her way home after six years in Iranian detention, says MP
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe on a plane back to Britain from Iran, 16 March (Social media)
Par MEE staff

A first image of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe on her way back to the UK from Britain has been shared by MP Tulip Siddiq.

The British-Iranian charity worker is seen on a plane, which she is now believed to be travelling in alongside fellow detainee Anousheh Ashouri.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a project manager with Thomson Reuters, was arrested in 2016 as she was leaving Iran after taking her then 22-month-old daughter to visit her family.

She was subsequently jailed for five years after being convicted of plotting to overthrow the government.

Then in April last year, she was sentenced to another year's imprisonment over her participation in a rally outside the Iranian embassy in London in 2009.

She was freed from prison with an electronic tag in March 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, according to Iran’s judiciary, Ashouri was sentenced to 10 years in jail in 2019 for on charges of spying for Israel and two years for “acquiring illegitimate wealth".

Zaghari-Ratcliffe's husband, Richard Ratcliffe, has insisted that the case against his wife is a sham.

He says that she is being used as a bargaining chip by Tehran in order to secure a debt payment from the UK relating to a historic arms deal.

On Wednesday, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said Britain has paid the historic debt owed to Iran relating to military equipment.

"The IMS debt has been settled in full compliance with UK and international sanctions and all legal obligations. These funds will be ring-fenced solely for the purchase of humanitarian goods," she said in a statement.

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