British-Iranian mother Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is about to leave Iran where she has been detained since 2016, her MP has said. Both Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe and fellow detainee Anousheh Ashoori are believed to be heading to Tehran airport to leave the country,
Tulip Siddiq, Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s MP in Hampstead and Kilburn wrote on Twitter: “Nazanin is at the airport in Tehran and on her way home.” The Foreign Office has not commented on the reports and earlier on Tuesday Boris Johnson said negotiations about Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe were “moving forward” but “going right up to the wire”.
The apparent breakthrough will bring an end to the ordeal for Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe which began in 2016 when she was detained by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard at Imam Khomeini airport after a holiday visit to Iran where she showed her daughter Gabriella to her parents. There have been signs of progress in delicate negotiations between the UK and Iran in recent days.
But Mr Johnson, during a trip to the Middle East, was careful not to elaborate further when speaking to reporters on Tuesday. A glimmer of optimism for 43-year-old Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe came a day earlier when Ms Siddiq said her British passport had been returned.
Mr Johnson confirmed a British negotiating team was working in Tehran to secure the release of dual nationals, while Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe remains at her family home in the Iranian capital. “I really don’t think I should say much more, I’m sorry, although things are moving forward,” he told broadcasters at the Emirates Palace hotel in Abu Dhabi.
“I shouldn’t really say much more right now just because those negotiations continue to be under way and we’re going right up to the wire.”
This is a breaking story and will be updated shortly
