Zaghari-Ratcliffe 鈥榗ould fly home on March 7鈥�

Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian dual national, 鈥渉as begun counting down the weeks鈥� before she is able to fly home. (File: Reuters)
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  • British-Iranian political prisoner detained for 5 years by Tehran 鈥榟as calendar counting down release鈥�


LONDON: Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, one of the world鈥檚 most high-profile political prisoners, could be freed in seven weeks鈥� time when her Iran prison sentence ends, her family has said.

The 42-year-old mother鈥檚 five-year detention on charges that she denies ends officially on March 7.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian dual national, 鈥渉as begun counting down the weeks鈥� before she is able to fly home to her husband Richard Ratcliffe and their 6-year-old daughter Gabriella in London.

The charity worker was arrested in 2016 at Tehran airport as she boarded a flight home with her daughter following a regular visit to her parents in Iran. Gabriella had her British passport confiscated and was sent to live with her grandparents.

Ratcliffe wrote to the UK Foreign Office and the Iranian Embassy this weekend to learn of the arrangements for his wife鈥檚 release.

His questions included whether she will be flown on board a military plane or commercial flight, how an electronic ankle tag she wears will be removed, and how she can regain her confiscated British passport. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 want to leave everything until the last minute,鈥� he said.

Since being released from the notorious Evin prison last year as the coronavirus pandemic broke out in Iran, Zaghari-Ratcliffe has lived under house arrest at her parents鈥� home in Tehran.

The UK Foreign Office said: 鈥淲e remain committed to securing the immediate and permanent release of all arbitrarily detained dual nationals in Iran. We are doing everything we can to enable Nazanin to return home.鈥�

Zaghari-Ratcliffe has created a seven-week countdown calendar on the wall of her bedroom. On the last week of the calendar, she has written 鈥渇reedom.鈥�

UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said Britain is 鈥減ushing as hard as it can鈥� to free her, and negotiations with Iran had 鈥渋ntensified鈥� recently.

He added that the incoming Biden administration in the US offers 鈥渁dditional possibilities鈥� for Zaghari-Ratcliffe to leave Iran.