Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has questioned why she was left in Iranian detention for six years as she spoke publicly for the first time since arriving back in the UK.
Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe was reunited with her husband Richard and daughter Gabriella on Friday morning after her release, which followed the UK settling a near-£400million debt to Iran.
In an impassioned statement during a press conference on Monday, she criticised previous foreign secretaries for their lack of action in securing her return to the UK.
Although her husband praised Liz Truss for bringing his wife back home, Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 43, said her release “should’ve happened six years ago”.
“I grant what Richard said to thank the foreign secretary, I do not really agree with him on that level.
“I have seen five foreign secretaries changed over the course of six years. That is unprecedented given the politics of the UK.
“I love you, Richard. I respect you but I was told many, many times that, ‘oh, we're going to get you home’. That never happened.
“So there was a time that I felt like, you know what, I'm not going to trust you because I've been told many, many times that I'm going to be taken home.
“But that never happened. I mean, how many former secretaries does it take for someone to come out? Five? It should have been one.”
Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe said her family had been through a tough journey and there was a lot to catch up on after being away for so long.
Speaking of her experience, Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe said: "It will always haunt me. There is no other way around it. It will be with me."
She said it is "very difficult" for her to talk about what she has been through.
The mother-of one said she was told early on that there was something Iran wanted from Britain and that she would not be released until they got what they wanted.
"So, I didn't know the details at the time. But I think it was the week two or week three that I was arrested, like six years ago, that they told me 'We want something off the Brits. We will not let you go until such time that we get it'.
"And they did keep their promise."
‘Nazanin calm and composed even when asked to relive some of the most difficult memories’
David Bond at Portcullis House
Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s sheer delight and relief at what she described as her "glorious" moment was evident to anyone in the room.
She smiled throughout the press conference and remained remarkably calm and composed even when asked to relive some of the most difficult memories of her time in detention.
Those questions which strayed into what she said was "the black hole" of her time in Iran were rebuffed with the most charming of smiles.
If she was nervous at meeting the media or her ‘fame’ she didn’t show it though while she spoke she kept her hand on her husband Richard’s leg for support. In return Richard tried to reassure her by stroking her hand.
After they walked into the packed committee room in Parliament’s Portcullis House, led by their local MP Tulip Siddiq, their daughter Gabriella was shown to a seat in the front row. She played on an iPhone while her parents spoke to the media.
At the end when the family left the room, she ran to her father Richard who planted a kiss gently on her forehead.
Beginning the press conference at Portcullis House , Tulip Siddiq, Labour MP for Hampstead and Kilburn, said she had called on the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee to look into her ordeal and in particular, why Britain’s debt to Iran for military equipment could not have been settled sooner.
“I feel Nazanin could have been home a long time ago if we had paid the historic debt of £400 million earlier,” Ms Siddiq said.
“Therefore, I feel I owe it to my constituent Nazanin to ask for a review into the handling of her case. I will be writing to Tom Tugendhat, the chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, to ask for an inquiry into Nazanin’s case and the wider issue of hostage taking by Iran.”
Mr Ratcliffe, also agreed with his local MP and said a review into the inquiry would be useful at this time.
He did add, however, that the review must be conducted through Parliament not via lawyers, but was ultimately grateful to have his wife back.
With his wife now back, Mr Ratcliffe did say he was “glad to be retiring” as a campaigner for his wife after such a long time away from each other.
“We’re still negotiating whether daddy is allowed to sleep in the same bed as Gabriella and Nazanin but we’ll get there,” Mr Ratcliffe joked.
“But this is my retirement day, and I’m glad it has come.”
Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a project manager for the Thomson Reuters Foundation, was detained while visiting her parents in Iran in April 2016 and accused of plotting to overthrow the Iranian government.
She was given a five-year sentence in September 2016 and in April of last year was given another year on charges of propaganda against the government.
She has always denied the charges against her.
Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe urged an end to the detention of other dual nationals still held in Iran, saying without their release “the meaning of freedom is never going to be complete”.
Fellow British national, Anoosheh Ashoori last week returned to the UK with her after being detained in Iran.
But a second man, Morad Tahbaz, who holds UK and US nationality, was released from prison but is not yet allowed to leave Iran. His daughter was at the press conference.
Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe told reporters: “I believe that the meaning of freedom is never going to be complete as to such time that all of us who are unjustly detained in Iran are reunited with our families.
“To begin with Morad, but also the other dual nationals, members of religious groups, or prisoners of conscience who are ... I mean, we do realise that if I have been in prison for six years there are so many other people we don’t know their names who have been suffering in prison in Iran.”
Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who was detained on April 3 2016 by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard at Imam Khomeini airport after a holiday visit with Gabriella to her parents, thanked those who campaigned for her release, saying she was "powerless" in prison.
Speaking of being reunited with her family at RAF Brize Norton on Thursday morning, she said "That moment was precious”.
"I've been waiting for that moment for such a long time. And I was overwhelmed, specifically to get to know Gabriella and Richard after such a long time.
"It was a very, very emotional moment."
