From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, March 15, 2022
Iran returns passport of UK charity worker detained for 6 years
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LONDON — Iranian authorities have returned the passport of a UK woman who has been detained in the country for almost six years, raising hopes of progress in negotiations toward her release.
Charity worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe remains at her parents’ home in Tehran, says Tulip Siddiq, her local lawmaker in the UK.
“I also understand that there is a British negotiating team in Tehran right now,’’ Siddiq says on Twitter. “I will keep posting updates as I get them.”
I am very pleased to say that 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.
I will keep posting updates as I get them.#FreeNazanin
— Tulip Siddiq (@TulipSiddiq) March 15, 2022
Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who has dual UK-Iranian citizenship, served five years in prison after being taken into custody at Tehran’s airport in April 2016. She was later convicted of plotting the overthrow of Iran’s government, a charge that she, her supporters and rights groups deny.
She has been held under house arrest and unable to leave the country since her release.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s local lawyer, Hojjat Kermani, also tells The Associated Press she has received her British passport. However, Kermani says she remained banned from leaving the country.
“We hope that these negotiations will be concluded soon,” he says.
The Times of Israel Community.