London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Sep 12, 2025

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe: I should have been freed six years ago

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe: I should have been freed six years ago

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has said it should never have taken the government so long to secure her release from prison in Iran.

She told a news conference she had been overwhelmed with emotion to be reunited with her husband and daughter, describing the reunion as precious.

But she said "what's happened now should have happened six years ago".

The British-Iranian was speaking for the first time since her dramatic return to the UK last week.

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arrested on spying charges while visiting her parents in Iran, with her then two-year-old daughter Gabriella, in April 2016. Last week, she was freed after spending six years in detention.

Her release came after the UK government paid a £400m debt to Iran dating back to the 1970s, although both governments have said the two issues should not be linked.

Speaking to the media in Westminster, Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe thanked all those who had worked to get her released, paying tribute to her "amazing, wonderful" husband, Richard Ratcliffe, who she said had campaigned tirelessly. She also thanked her daughter "for being very, very patient with mummy".

But she took issue with the credit her husband had granted Foreign Secretary Liz Truss for her release, saying: "I have seen five foreign secretaries change over the course of six years. How many foreign secretaries does it take for someone to come home?"

She added: "We all know… how I came home. It should have happened exactly six years ago."

Describing her arrival back in the UK, Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe recalled the "precious" and "glorious" feeling of stepping off the plane and seeing her daughter again.

"I had been waiting for that moment for such a long time," she said.

"It was lovely to get to hold her, to braid her hair and to brush her hair. That was a moment that I really, really missed."

She said she was looking forward to getting to know Gabriella better again and doing everyday things like taking her to school.

Also speaking at the news conference, Mr Ratcliffe joked that it was "nice to be retiring" from his role as a campaigner, and thanked everyone for "making us whole again".

"I'm so pleased she's back home, that she came home to us. We're still negotiating whether daddy's allowed in the same bed as Gabriella and Nazanin. We'll get there."

Mr Ratcliffe continued: "I think we'll do this and then we will disappear off and heal a bit."

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe declined to speak about her ordeal, saying it would always haunt her.

But she added: "I always felt like I was holding this black hole in my heart all these years... I am going to leave that black hole on the plane."

While in Iran in September 2016, Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a project manager for the Thomson Reuters Foundation, was accused of plotting to overthrow the Iranian government and was given a five-year sentence.

Then, in April 2021, she was sentenced for another year on charges of propaganda against the government.

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe has always denied those allegations and said that she was only in Iran to visit her family.

Speaking on Monday, she said she had been told by Iranian authorities shortly after her arrest that they wanted "something off the Brits", and that they would not let her go until they had got it.

"And they did keep their promise," she said.

Earlier during her visit to Westminster, Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe met Speaker of the House Sir Lindsay Hoyle in his parliamentary rooms.

Sir Lindsay gave Gabriella a Speaker Bear fluffy toy, which she decided to call Speechless


The Speaker told her "the whole nation rejoiced" when she returned to the UK.

He added: "You have achieved something that many others before you have not - in uniting the House in their efforts and hope to get you home."

Another British-Iranian national, Anoosheh Ashoori, was released at the same time as Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe.

But Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe also used the event to draw attention to the plight of other dual nationals still detained in Iran.

Morad Tahbaz, who has British, Iranian, and American citizenship, remains in detention, and there are numerous people from other countries who are being held on various allegations of working to undermine the Iranian regime.

Mr Tahbaz's daughter, Roxanne, also appeared at the conference, and said her family felt her father had been "abandoned and left behind" in Iran.

She said they had been told by the Foreign Office that Mr Tahbaz would be included in any deal to release hostages in Iran, and called on the prime minister and the foreign secretary to continue to work for his release.

"I believe that the meaning of freedom is never going to be complete until such time that all of us who are unjustly detained in Iran are reunited with our families," Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe said.

"There are so many other people - we don't know their names - who have been suffering in prison."

Tulip Siddiq, Labour MP for Hampstead and Kilburn, has called on the Foreign Affairs Select Committee to investigate why the debt the UK had with Iran took "so long" to be paid.

Ms Siddiq - who represents Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's constituency and has called herself the "Nazanin MP" - said she had written to the chair of the committee, Tom Tugendhat.

Mr Ratcliffe welcomed the investigation and said it would be "really valuable for Parliament to take up that challenge and to talk it through".


WATCH: Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe says she's missed holding her seven-year-old daughter


Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
German police raid AfD lawmaker’s offices in inquiry over Chinese payments
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Volkswagen launches aggressive strategy to fend off Chinese challenge in Europe’s EV market
ChatGPT CEO signals policy to alert authorities over suicidal youth after teen’s death
The British legal mafia hit back: Banksy mural of judge beating protester is scrubbed from London court
Surpassing Musk: Larry Ellison becomes the richest man in the world
Embarrassment for Starmer: He fired the ambassador photographed on Epstein’s 'pedophile island'
Manhunt after 'skilled sniper' shot Charlie Kirk. Footage: Suspect running on rooftop during panic
Effective Protest Results: Nepal’s Prime Minister Resigns as Youth-Led Unrest Shakes the Nation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
King Charles and Prince Harry Share First In-Person Moment in 19 Months
Starmer Establishes Economic ‘Budget Board’ to Centralise Policy and Rebuild Business Trust
France Erupts in Mass ‘Block Everything’ Protests on New PM’s First Day
Poland Shoots Down Russian Drones in Airspace Violation During Ukraine Attack
Brazilian police say ex-President Bolsonaro had planned to flee to Argentina seeking asylum
Trinidad Leader Applauds U.S. Naval Strike and Advocates Forceful Action Against Traffickers
Kim Jong Un Oversees Final Test of New High-Thrust Solid-Fuel Rocket Engine
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Macron Appoints Sébastien Lecornu as Prime Minister Amid Budget Crisis and Political Turmoil
Supreme Court temporarily allows Trump to pause billions in foreign aid
Charlie Sheen says his father, Martin Sheen, turned him in to the police: 'The greatest betrayal possible'
Vatican hosts first Catholic LGBTQ pilgrimage
Apple Unveils iPhone 17 Series, iPhone Air, Apple Watch 11 and More at 'Awe Dropping' Event
Pig Heads Left Outside Multiple Paris Mosques in Outrage-Inducing Acts
Nvidia’s ‘Wow’ Factor Is Fading. The AI chip giant used to beat Wall Street expectations for earnings by a substantial margin. That trajectory is coming down to earth.
France joins Eurozone’s ‘periphery’ as turmoil deepens, say investors
On the Anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s Death: Prince Harry Returns to Britain
France Faces New Political Crisis, again, as Prime Minister Bayrou Pushed Out
Murdoch Family Finalises $3.3 Billion Succession Pact, Ensuring Eldest Son’s Leadership
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Court Staff Cover Up Banksy Image of Judge Beating a Protester
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Nayib Bukele Points Out Belgian Hypocrisy as Brussels Considers Sending Army into the Streets
Elon Musk Poised to Become First Trillionaire Under Ambitious Tesla Pay Plan
France, at an Impasse, Heads Toward Another Government Collapse
Burning the Minister’s House Helped Protesters to Win Justice: Prabowo Fires Finance Minister in Wake of Indonesia Protests
Brazil Braces for Fallout from Bolsonaro Trial by corrupted judge
The Country That Got Too Rich? Public Spending Dominates Norway Election
Nearly 40 Years Later: Nike Changes the Legendary Slogan Just Do It
Generations Born After 1939 Unlikely to Reach Age One Hundred, New Study Finds
End to a four-year manhunt in New Zealand: the father who abducted his children to the forests was killed, the three siblings were found
Germany Suspends Debt Rules, Funnels €500 Billion Toward Military and Proxy War Strategy
EU Prepares for War
BMW Eyes Growth in China with New All‑Electric Neue Klasse Lineup
Trump Threatens Retaliatory Tariffs After EU Imposes €2.95 Billion Fine on Google
Tesla Board Proposes Unprecedented One-Trillion-Dollar Performance Package for Elon Musk
US Justice Department Launches Criminal Mortgage-Fraud Probe into Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook
Escalating Drug Trafficking and Violence in Latin America: A Growing Crisis
US and Taiwanese Defence Officials Held Secret Talks in Alaska
Report: Secret SEAL Team 6 Mission in North Korea Ordered by Trump in 2019 Ended in Failure
×