British Foreign Secretary: Iran's treatment of Nazanin Zaghari 'unacceptable'; concerns over new case for dual citizen

In its first reaction to reports of the release of British-Iranian citizen Nazanin Zaghari-Redakli, the British Foreign Secretary called for her to be allowed to return to the UK, saying that the Islamic Republic government's treatment of her was "unbearable."

British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab welcomed the lifting of Ms. Zaghari's electronic monitoring on Twitter on Sunday, writing: "The Islamic Republic government's treatment of Ms. Zaghari is "unbearable."

He said that Ms. Zaghari should be allowed to return to her family in Britain as soon as possible.

At the same time, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that Ms. Zaghari's continued imprisonment was unacceptable.

On Sunday, March 8, Hojjat Kermani, the lawyer for Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, told Iranian media that his client had been “released” from prison after five years in prison. Nazanin Zaghari had spent the last year of her sentence under “electronic monitoring” and house arrest due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The news of her release comes as Ms. Zaghari's brother tweeted that her arrest had been lifted and wrote that she would have to go to the Revolutionary Court again for another case.

Richard Ratcliffe, Zaghari's husband, also said on Sunday that there were still concerns about Nazanin Zaghari's continued detention, particularly due to what he called "political differences" between Britain and Iran.

Ms. Zaghari's lawyer said that in another case, Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court has set a hearing date for March 14, 2020, and Ms. Zaghari must answer for the charge of "propaganda activity against the regime."

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who worked as a project manager with the Thomson Reuters Foundation, was arrested by the Islamic Republic's security forces on April 5, 2016, as she was leaving Iran after a family trip to Iran with her daughter.

He is accused of participating in the "soft overthrow" of the Islamic Republic through cooperation with foreign institutions and companies. Richard Ratcliffe has called the charges against him "ridiculous."

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has confirmed that he has at times discussed with British officials the possibility of paying money in exchange for the release of a British-Iranian. According to the Guardian, Zarif had said that if Britain had released the money, he would have negotiated the release of Nazanin Zaghari from prison.