Iran May Soon Release British-Iranian Zaghari-Ratcliffe - Lawyer
The Iranian lawyer of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, an Iranian-British citizen held in Iran for nearly six years, has spoken of “good news” about her client soon.
The Iranian lawyer of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, an Iranian-British citizen held in Iran for nearly six years, has spoken of “good news” about her client soon.
Hojjat Kermani expressed hope on Tuesday about her release within the next few days, saying, "I am hopeful that we will have good news soon”.
Negotiations over the release of the imprisoned charity worker who’s been detained by Iran since 2016 have seen progress, Kermani said.
UK MP Tulip Siddiq tweeted, “Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been given her British passport back.” “She is still at her family home in Tehran. I also understand that there is a British negotiating team in Tehran right now,” she added.
The news can be seen as a sign that prisoner swap negotiations underway in parallel with the Vienna nuclear talks with Iran might have moved in the right direction.
Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said in February that a prisoner swap was on the agenda in parallel with the nuclear talks.
Britain is also understood to have agreed to repay a £400 million debt it owes Iran relating to an abortive deal to export British armaments in the 1970s.
Iran is holding several Western prisoners in what human rights organizations have dubbed hostage diplomacy, accusing the Islamic Republic of holding dual-nationals as bargaining chips for money or leverage in negotiations with the West, something Tehran denies.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe served five years in prison after being taken into custody at Tehran's airport in April 2016 and convicted of plotting the overthrow Iran’s government, a charge that she, her supporters and rights groups deny.
