'Our hearts are full,' says family of British woman released from Iran after 6 years

Story Transcript

Rebecca Ratcliffe says her family is beyond excited that her sister-in-law is finally coming home after spending six years under Iranian detention.

British-Iranian aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and dual national Anoosheh Ashoori both flew out of Iran on Wednesday after the U.K. struck a deal with Iran. A third dual national, Morad Tahbaz, is set to be released from prison on furlough shortly.

"To be honest, it's a little bit hard to sink in. As the day's gone on and we are adjusting to the news," Ratcliffe told As It Happens guest host Gillian Findlay. "Our hearts are full."

Detained while visiting family 

Zaghari-Ratcliffe was on her way home from visiting family in April 2016 when she was arrested in Tehran's airport and convicted of plotting to overthrow the government — something she, her supporters and rights groups have long denied.

The 43-year-old mother was sentenced to five years in prison, and spent the last two years under house arrest at her parents' home in Tehran.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted that he was pleased that Zaghari-Ratcliffe's and Ashoori's "unfair detention" had ended.

"The U.K. has worked intensively to secure their release and I am delighted they will be reunited with their families and loved ones," he wrote. 

A statement from Ashoori's family thanked everyone who had worked towards his release. 

"One thousand, six hundred and seventy-two days ago our family's foundations were rocked when our father and husband was unjustly detained and taken away from us," it reads. "Now, we can look forward to rebuilding those same foundations with our cornerstone back in place."

Johnson complicated efforts to free Zaghari-Ratcliffe when he was foreign minister in 2017 by saying incorrectly that she was training journalists when she was arrested. He later apologized, though Iranian media repeatedly pointed to his remarks.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe was employed by the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of the Reuters news agency, at the time of her arrest — but she was on vacation, not at work, when she was detained.

Antonio Zappulla, CEO of the Thomson Reuters Foundation, said his organization was "overjoyed" that Zaghari-Ratcliffe had been freed.

"No one can begin to imagine what Nazanin has endured throughout the past tortuous six years; denied her freedoms, separated from her husband and young child, battling significant illness, thrown in solitary confinement," Zappulla said in a statement. 

"An innocent victim of an international dispute, Nazanin has been one of many used as political pawns. Her treatment has been utterly inhumane."

Repaying a longstanding debt

Rights groups accuse Iran of holding dual-nationals as bargaining chips for money or influence in negotiations with the West, something Tehran denies. Iran doesn't recognize dual nationality, so detainees like Zaghari-Ratcliffe can't receive consular assistance from their home countries. 

The breakthrough in negotiations came after extensive diplomacy that secured the release of the three dual nationals and led to an agreement for Britain to repay a longstanding debt to Iran.

Britain agreed to pay Iran £393.8 million ($657 million Cdn), which will be ring-fenced so the money can only be used for humanitarian purposes, according to The Associated Press. The British government declined to offer further details of the arrangement.

The debt has been a sticking point in British-Iranian relations for more than 40 years. 

Zaghari-Ratcliffe says she doesn't know why it took the U.K. so long to reach this agreement with Iran, but she and her brother are "very grateful" that it has.

It's going to take a lot of time and a lot of healing.- Rebecca Ratcliffe, sister-in-law of woman held in Iran 

She says her sister-in-law has been undeniably changed by her experience. 

"You don't go through an experience like that without a huge amount of trauma and the effects on your mental health," Ratcliffe said.

"She hasn't got that confidence she used to have … and hopefully she will regain some of that when she comes home. But it's going to take a lot of time and a lot of healing."

She says that when Zaghari-Ratcliffe was behind bars, the guards would often taunt her that her husband had abandoned her and she'd never see her family again.

But Richard Ratcliffe never abandoned his wife.

Throughout her imprisonment, he was in London advocating for her release to anyone who would listen. He made multiple media appearances, including on CBC Radio's As It Happens, and several times went on hunger strike in solidarity with his wife.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, he said: "I suppose that we can stop being a moment in history and start being a normal family again."

Rebecca Ratcliffe says it will be a tough adjustment for everyone, including her brother. 

"He's just been focusing on the campaign, waiting to get her home and just belligerently battering away and keeping her prominent in the media," she said.

"I think it will be a difficult adjustment as she comes home and he realizes that he doesn't have to be that person anymore. He can start being a daddy and a husband."

Written by Sheena Goodyear with files from Reuters and The Associated Press. Interview with Rebecca Ratcliffe produced by Sarah Jackson.