{"id":1595,"date":"2020-03-18T13:22:41","date_gmt":"2020-03-18T13:22:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/?p=1595"},"modified":"2020-03-18T13:22:41","modified_gmt":"2020-03-18T13:22:41","slug":"nazanin-zaghari-ratcliffe-released-from-iran-prison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/?p=1595","title":{"rendered":"Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe released from Iran prison"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been temporarily released from prison in Iran because of the coronavirus outbreak, her husband says.<\/strong><\/p>\n

17 March 2020 – BBC – The British-Iranian charity worker will be required to wear an ankle tag and remain within 300m (984ft) of her parents’ home in Tehran.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe issue now is to make it permanent,\u201d her husband Richard Ratcliffe said.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cIt is hard to relax just yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Iran has temporarily released tens of thousands of prisoners in recent weeks in an effort to stop the spread of coronavirus.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, it said it had released about 85,000 prisoners who had tested negative for the virus and had posted bail.<\/p>\n

There had been reports that Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe would be released earlier this month, but she was kept in detention.<\/p>\n

The 41-year-old from London was jailed for five years in 2016 after being convicted of espionage charges that she has always denied. The UK has also insisted she is innocent.<\/p>\n

She was arrested at Tehran airport after visiting her family on holiday. She insists the visit was to introduce her daughter Gabriella to her relatives.<\/p>\n

What has the reaction been?<\/strong><\/p>\n

“I am relieved that Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe was today temporarily released into the care of her family in Iran,\u201d Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said in a statement on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe urge the regime to ensure she receives any necessary medical care,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cMy feelings today have been all of a mix \u2013 pleased at the happiness for Nazanin and Gabriella, but fear this is a new drawn out game of chess,\u201d Mr Ratcliffe said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is one feeling to walk out of prison. It is completely different to walk back in. No-one should be asked to go and be a hostage again. So we are watching carefully,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In a statement released through the Free Nazanin campaign, Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe said she was \u201cso happy to be out\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven with the ankle tag, I am so happy,\u201d she said. \u201cBeing out is so much better than being in – if you knew what hell this place is. It is mental. Let us hope it will be the beginning of coming home.”<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the background?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Earlier this year, Mr Ratcliffe urged Prime Minister Boris Johnson to be tougher with Iran. He said there had been \u201cno breakthrough\u201d in efforts to secure her permanent release.<\/p>\n

Mr Johnson has previously said he would leave “no stone unturned” to help free Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe.<\/p>\n

The charity worker remains on medication for depression and on beta blockers – medicines which slow down the heart – for the panic attacks she’s been suffering in jail, her husband said at the time.<\/p>\n

Her family and the UK government has always maintained her innocence and she has been given diplomatic protection by the Foreign Office – meaning the case is treated as a formal, legal dispute between Britain and Iran.<\/p>\n

While he was foreign secretary, Mr Johnson mistakenly said that Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe had been in Iran training journalists when she was arrested.<\/p>\n

She has always maintained she was in Iran visiting relatives.<\/p>\n

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Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been temporarily released from prison in Iran because of the coronavirus outbreak, her husband says. 17 March 2020 – BBC – The British-Iranian charity worker will be<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[263],"class_list":["post-1595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-human-rights","tag-nazanin-zaghari-ratcliffe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1595"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1595\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1596,"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1595\/revisions\/1596"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}