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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - British-Iranian prisoner Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who has been at the center of media attention since her arrest six years ago, is on her way home from Tehran, her local MP tweeted on Wednesday.
“Nazanin is at the airport in Tehran and on her way home,” Tulip Siddiq said on Twitter.
Iranian state television also confirmed on Wednesday that Zaghari-Ratcliffe was "handed over" to British authorities, according to AFP.
Hopes of Zaghari-Ratcliffe returning home soared after her MP said she had her British passport returned on Tuesday while noting that a negotiating team from the UK was in Tehran.
The team settled an over £400-million debt, equivalent to over $500 million for defense equipment dating back to the time of the Shah of Iran, reported AFP.
Media affiliated with the Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Wednesday said “Nazanin Zaghari was handed over to the UK team in exchange for $530-million dollars.”
Reuters on Wednesday reported that another dual-national, Anousheh Ashouri, who was arrested in Iran in 2017, was also on his way home to the UK.
On Wednesday afternoon, these reports were confirmed in a statement issued by the UK's Foreign Secretary Liz Truss. "After years of detention by the Government of Iran, British Nationals Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori will return from Iran today," she said.
The foreign secretary also clarified that the debt had been settled. "The IMS [International Military Services] debt has been settled in full compliance with UK and international sanctions and all legal obligations. These funds will be ring-fenced solely for the purchase of humanitarian goods," she added.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arrested at Tehran's Imam Khomeini airport in April of 2016 following a family visit with her daughter. She was convicted of attempting to "topple the Iranian government” in September of the same year.
She served the last year of her sentence under house arrest after being released from Evin prison over COVID-19 concerns.
Last year, she was given a further jail sentence of 12 months for taking a part in a rally outside the Iranian embassy in London back in 2009. Her additional sentence garnered further international outcry. At the time, Siddiq said she was being “abusively used as a bargaining chip.”
The Iranian government has been accused of using Zaghari-Ratcliffe and other dual nationals to gain leverage at the negotiation table with western powers.
Updated at 5:13 pm
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