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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Abigail O'Leary

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe breaks silence on Iran prison hell - "I'll be haunted forever"

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has publicly spoken for the first time in a press conference at parliament alongside her husband Richard Ratcliffe.

The British-Iranian mum thanked all who had been involved in getting her home, acknowledging her 'wonderful husband' and praising the patience of her daughter.

She said: "My amazing husband who has been tirelessly campaigning for me - thank you so much.

“My daughter who has been very very patient with mummy for coming home.”

“The meaning of freedom is never going to be complete until such time all of us unjustly detained in Iran are… released.”

"I have seen five foreign secretaries. I was told many many times ‘oh we’re going to get you home’, that never happened," she said.

"How many Foreign Secretaries does it take for someone to come home? Five? What’s happened now should have happened six years ago."

Of her detainment, Zaghari-Ratcliffe went on to say "it will always haunt me", before adding authorities in Iran told her she could not be released until tehey got "something off the Brits".

The British-Iranian mum thanked all who had been involved in getting her home (SKY NEWS)

She said: "They told me 'we want something off the Brits, we will not let you go until such time as we get it'." - adding that a payment leading to her freedom "should have happened six years ago".

She thanked family members who were “under so much pressure” from Iran they they were “scared” to speak up for their rights.

The British-Iranian mum was released from an Iranian jail last week and allowed to fly home to reunite with her family after six years detained.

She landed in the UK after intense negotiations around a £400million debt Britain owed Iran, that led to their release.

Their flight initially took them to the Gulf state of Oman, which has been closely involved in behind-the-scenes negotiations to secure their releases.

Asked if she was angry at the government she said: “I cannot be happier than this that I’m here But also… this should have happened six years ago. I think that answers your question.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe (R) and her husband Richard Radcliffe stand with their daughter Gabriella as they arrive at Parliament (Peter Macdiarmid/LNP)

“I always felt like I’m holding this black hole in my heart all these years but I’m just going to leave that black hole in my heart on the plane, when the plane left.

“I’m not going to live with the rest of my life with a grudge.”

She added “it has been cruel what happened to me” but said she was only just home, adding: “I think it’s a bit early to hold that grudge. But it should have happened six years ago.

"It took a very, very long time for the politicians to sort it out.”

She also demanded other Iranian detainees are released, saying: “I was the lucky one who got to be recognised internationally”.

Last week, a video showed how she broke down in tears as she was reunited with her seven-year-old daughter just minutes after landing back on British soil.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe speaks ar a press conference following her release (SKY NEWS)

Her flight, that also carried Anoosheh Ashoori, touched down at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire shortly after 1am last Thursday morning.

Heartwarming pictures show the family reunited for the first time in years, after having been stuck at the heart of an international incident that tore them apart.

Gabriella was heard asking "is that mummy?" as Nazanin departed the plane.

In a video shared on Instagram by Anoosheh Ashoori’s daughter Elika Ashoori, Gabriella shouted “mummy” as Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe walked down the plane’s stairs.

Later in the video, Richard Ratcliffe shakes Mr Ashoori’s hand, before Mr Ashoori was reunited with his family, who were in tears.

Nazanin's sister-in-law Rebecca Ratcliffe, said they newly reunited family were looking forward to enjoying the normal experiences others take for granted.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today Programme, she said: "They have lived apart for such a long time, had such different experiences, they are not going to go back to how they were before. Of course they won't.

"They are never going to be a normal family. I think there is an element of having those normal experiences that they haven't been able to for such a long time.

"Go swimming together, go to the supermarket together, go out for walks - all those things the rest of us take for granted when we have got children that they are looking forward to."

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