Nazanin Zaghari: I should have signed false confessions

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who finally managed to leave Iran after a long period of house arrest, now says the actions of the Revolutionary Guard before she left the country were “humiliating.” She was forced to sign “false confessions.”

British-Iranian citizen Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was imprisoned in Iran for years and now, two months after her release and return to the UK, she is speaking out about the conditions of her release.

In an interview with the BBC's "Woman's Hour," she said that Islamic Republic officials forced her to sign "false and coerced confessions" about "espionage" in the presence of a British government representative before leaving the country.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who holds dual Iranian and British citizenship, says the footage that the Islamic Republic's authorities recorded of her was an example of "human humiliation."

According to his assessment, Islamic Republic officials will publish these fabricated confessions in the future.

Ms. Zaghari says that at that time, the Revolutionary Guards took her to the airport before she could say goodbye to her parents.

He added that Islamic Republic officials told him that the British government had paid the 400 million pounds they owed Iran since the 1970s in exchange for his release.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 43, was released in mid-March this year after six years of house arrest and detention. His conviction had fueled years of conflict between Tehran and London.

He worked for the Thompson Reuters Foundation for Journalists and was arrested in 2016 while traveling to Iran.

Sentenced to prison on charges of “espionage”

Zaghari-Ratcliffe was accused by Islamic Republic officials of “espionage,” among other charges. The charges state that he “tried to overthrow the Islamic Republic by forming a foreign network.”

Although British authorities vehemently denied the charges, the Revolutionary Court convicted him.

Human rights groups say the Islamic Republic is holding dual citizens like Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe hostage to achieve its goals. In this case, too, Ms. Zaghari’s supporters have said the Islamic Republic was holding the British-Iranian citizen hostage to repay a £400 million debt owed to Britain. Islamic Republic officials deny this claim.