Hampstead and Kilburn MP Tulip Siddiq
(Picture: Lucy Young)Writing this article almost feels like a dream. For the past six years, whenever I’ve spoken, written, argued or tweeted about Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, it’s always been about bringing her home. But today, after I write this article, I can go to sleep safe in the knowledge that Nazanin has been reunited with her husband Richard and their seven-year-old daughter Gabriella. It is a feeling of utmost joy, albeit tinged with disbelief.
I still remember the first time I met Richard Ratcliffe. I had just given birth when I received a call from Oliver in my office. He told me that an urgent case needed my attention. As a constituency MP, I knew I couldn’t ignore the fact that my constituent Nazanin had been detained in Iran under false charges, whether I was recovering from a C-section or not.
I asked her husband Richard to come to my house along with the then Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. Discussing the logistics of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard with Richard and Jeremy while breastfeeding my newborn was definitely one of the more memorable moments in my career to date.
That was April 2016, and since then Richard and I — along with thousands of others — have worked on a campaign to secure Nazanin’s release. We lobbied three prime ministers and five foreign secretaries during the course of the six years of her detention. I was granted eight Urgent Questions in Parliament, and every time I finished my speech by saying that I hoped it would be the last. Amazing organisations like Redress, Amnesty International, Gibson Dunn and Change.org and relentless campaigners, including many from my constituency of Hampstead and Kilburn, doggedly persevered to get Nazanin home. Every day I marvelled at Richard — the man who has showed us what love really means. Not only was he relentless in his campaigning, but he went on hunger strike twice risking his own life and health for his wife’s freedom. As I said in Parliament, he has now set the bar very high for husbands across the world.
There are many people to thank for their help in achieving this: the Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, minister James Cleverly and the Foreign Office officials who negotiated Nazanin’s release. Then there’s the wide spectrum of MPs from all parties who supported this campaign from day one — including SNP, Conservatives, Lib Dems, Green, SDLP and the DUP. And, of course, Richard’s family who have provided love, support and energy when he needed it — his sister, brother, mother and father.
As we celebrate the long-awaited release of Nazanin and Anoosheh Ashoori, my thoughts are with the other dual nationals who are still sadly detained in Iran. Whilst I am glad to hear that Morad Tahbaz has been released from prison on furlough, we must continue to fight for him to be able to leave Iran and be reunited with his family. We now know how days can turn into weeks and then into years. Richard told me he never imagined in his wildest dreams that he would be without Nazanin for six years. He initially thought it would be a matter of a few weeks. We need to ensure that it genuinely is a matter of weeks for Morad, not years.
I am also aware that there is a desperate need to ensure that a situation like this never happens again. We might be celebrating today, but, as Richard said so poignantly, he won’t get back the time that’s gone. Gabriella missed out on countless birthdays, Christmases, holidays, anniversaries and special occasions with her mother. She missed out on a large chunk of Gabriella’s childhood, which is irreplaceable. While it is important that the Zaghari-Ratcliffe family look to the future and now rebuild their lives, for the rest of us I feel it is important that there is a review into why it took so long for the Government to pay the historic £400 million debt it owed to Iran and negotiate the release of British citizens.
We need to know why this wasn’t possible a few years ago, and whether there were genuine obstacles or a lack of will on the part of those at the upper echelons of government.
I came into politics to make a difference and to change lives. Being an opposition MP, I’ve found it can often be difficult to make changes to legislation or achieve everything I want to. But today, with pride, I know I can tweet this article with the hashtag #NazaninIsFree rather than #FreeNazanin.
