Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe: The six-year fight for freedom

Philip Whiteside, news reporter

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is a British-Iranian woman who has been in jail in Iran for six years.

The Iranian regime claims she was working against the state when she was arrested on a visit to the country to see her parents with her daughter.

Here is a timeline of events that have left a family split apart and resulted in diplomacy at the highest level.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe joins the Thomson Reuters Foundation, a charity that says it promotes "socio-economic progress" and the rule of law through a series of training programmes.

Before the move, she worked for BBC Media Action for around 18 months, the corporation's international development charity which uses "the power of media and communication to help reduce poverty and support people in understanding their rights".

Gabriella, the only daughter of Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe and her husband Richard, is born in the UK and grows up in St John's Wood, north London. In the next 22 months, Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe and her daughter travel to Iran four times to see family.

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe travels to Iran to visit her family for Nowruz, the Persian New Year festival, with her then 22-month-old daughter.

As she and her daughter prepare to board a flight back to the UK at Tehran's Imam Khomeini Airport, she is approached by members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard and arrested.

Her daughter's passport is confiscated.

The reason for her arrest is not made public.

She is held the day after British-Iranian relations are partially restored following the announcement of a general framework outlining the broad parameters of a nuclear deal.

Relations had broken down in 2011 when the British embassy was stormed by students supportive of the regime, during a demonstration against sanctions.

Press TV, the state-owned and controlled English and French language Iranian news channel, claims Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe was involved in "plans for 'regime change' in Iran", allegations she denies.

An article says she was identified after a large intelligence operation and was one of the "liaison officers of networks hostile to Iran abroad".

Press TV's "source" tells the channel she "carried out several missions" and "conducted her criminal activities under the direction of media and intelligence services of foreign governments".

Gabriella, meanwhile, goes to live with her grandparents.

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe is prevented from seeing her daughter for 38 days. The first time she is brought to the jail, Gabriella is forced to wear a sack over her head to disguise where her mother is being held, the Evening Standard reported.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard says Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe participated in the "design and implementation of cyber and media projects to cause the soft toppling of the Islamic Republic", allegations she denies.

It also reveals that two other dual nationals and a foreigner have been indicted.

They are; Homa Hoodfar, an Iranian-Canadian woman who is a retired university professor, Siamak Namazi, an Iranian-American businessman, and Nizar Zakka, a permanent US resident from Lebanon who has done work for the US government.

Theresa May raises concerns about the plight of Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe with Iran's President Rouhani.

During a phone conversation, the PM mentions a number of consular cases involving dual nationals, including that of the 37-year-old charity worker.

A Downing Street spokesman said Mrs May stresses the importance of resolving such cases as the two countries work on forming closer ties.

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe meanwhile is receiving no direct consular assistance from the UK as Iran refuses to recognise dual nationality and denies foreign ministries access.

After spending 150 days in detention, Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe is sentenced to five years in prison on charges that "remain secret".

An online petition calling for her release passes 800,000 signatures.

The Minister for the Middle East, Tobias Ellwood, meets the family to reassure them the Foreign Office will continue to do all it can.

The 37-year-old mother calls her husband Richard and reveals she is due to be held in jail for several more years, expressing her disbelief at the sentence.

She begs him to do whatever he can to secure her release and tells him: "They said that sometimes you can settle cases on appeal through payment - but not often cases like mine. So I don't know how long it will go on taking."

She is being held in the notorious Evin prison, a jail described by freed inmates as a "black hole", where political prisoners are tortured.

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's lawyer is instructed to appeal against the decision but no date for the appeal is set.

Iran's supreme court upholds the five-year prison sentence, giving her no more legal options to overturn it.

Richard Ratcliffe calls for the government to step up its efforts to free her.

Theresa May raises her plight with Iran, according to a Foreign Office statement.

Richard Ratcliffe tells Sky News his wife is in a "fragile state" and has seen a psychiatrist who diagnosed she has advanced depression.

Mr Ratcliffe says: "She's been talking in very dark terms about what she might do."

His comments come ahead of a visit to Iran by Foreign Office minister Alistair Burt, at which he raises her case.

Theresa May speaks to Iranian president Hassan Rouhani about the case on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe is told she faces two more charges, with prosecutors alleging she joined organisations which specifically worked to overthrow the government.

The Guardian says Tehran's prosecutor-general claimed that Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe was detained because she was running a "BBC Persian online journalism course".

The Iranian regime has a long-standing enmity towards the BBC's Persian service, which is banned in Iran but reaches people via satellite and on shortwave bandwidths, as well as online.

In the past, the Iranian regime has frozen the assets of its staff and harassed and intimidated their family members, according to the BBC.

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe is also accused of joining a demonstration outside the Iranian embassy in London, with authorities claiming they have photographic evidence.

Boris Johnson appears at a meeting of the House of Commons' Foreign Affairs Select Committee where he criticises Iran for detaining Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, before saying: "When I look at what Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was doing, she was simply teaching people journalism as I understand it.

"(Neither) Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe nor her family has been informed about what crime she has actually committed. And that I find extraordinary, incredible."

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe is summoned to court in Tehran where the Foreign Secretary's comments are used as evidence against her, with prosecutors saying she was engaged in "propaganda against the regime".

The new case is opened up a month before she is eligible for early release.

She could face an extra 16 years in jail.

Boris Johnson announces he plans to visit Iran, after speaking with Iranian foreign minister Javid Zarif in an effort to contain the fallout from his blunder.

The Foreign Office says: "The Foreign Secretary expressed concern that his remarks to the Foreign Affairs Committee were claimed by the Iranian Judiciary High Council for Human Rights to have shed new light on the case."

Mr Zarif is said to have told Mr Johnson developments in the British-Iranian national's case were unrelated to his comments.

There are calls for Mr Johnson to be sacked, as he admits he could have been clearer.

A family statement says Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe has found new lumps in both her breasts and is on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

Richard Ratcliffe says the Foreign Secretary's words have added to his wife's despair, but says it would not be in her interest for him to be sacked.

Boris Johnson calls Mr Ratcliffe and agrees to meet. It comes after Mr Johnson's ally, Michael Gove, compounds his error by saying "I don't know" when asked what he thinks the charity worker was doing in Iran.

The prime minister's spokesman effectively admonishes Mr Johnson and Mr Gove by telling journalists that British government policy is that Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe was on holiday when she was arrested.

Mr Ratcliffe, after a meeting with Mr Johnson described as "constructive", reveals the foreign secretary is "keen" for Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's husband to accompany him to Iran.

It emerges Gabriella can no longer speak English, which makes it difficult for her to converse with her father during phone calls.

Sky News is told the government is considering settling an outstanding £450m debt with Iran as part of attempts to secure Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's release.

The sum is owed after Britain received the money for an order of 1,750 tanks in the late 1970s.

But only 185 were delivered when the order was cancelled in the wake of Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution.

There is much debate over whether the cash should be viewed as a ransom payment - something the UK say it does not pay.

Iran makes fresh allegations against Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, including that she set up a spy network.

The charity worker was accused of recruiting for the banned BBC Persian Service and "opposition cyber teams".

Iranian state TV, which showed what it claimed to be various documents amounting to proof, said: "The BBC team in which Nazanin was a member designed, programmed and executed the Iran Project from 2007 for three years.

"According to this document, Nazanin had eight important duties in the fields of training and recruitment for the purpose of launching the BBC Persian service, espionage institutions and opposition cyber teams.

"Nazanin Zaghari cooperated with the BBC channel until 2010 but quit the BBC after the end of her project and joined a more serious project."

The Foreign Office says Boris Johnson "spoke frankly" with his Iranian counterpart during a two-hour meting in Tehran.

The then-foreign secretary was said to have expressed "grave concerns" over jailed Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe.

Sky's diplomatic editor Dominic Waghorn said: "It was quite a long meeting, and it was followed by a meeting with the speaker of the parliament and other Iranian officials.

"It was a pre-planned visit, so there were lots of issues that were being discussed, but obviously very close to Boris Johnson's heart - and important to his career - is the plight of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, after the mistake he made in front of MPs."

Mr Ratcliffe reveals his wife's Iranian lawyer told her she was "eligible for early release".

He added that he was "cautious" about the news but hoped Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe would be home soon.

Mr Ratcliffe told Sky News: "There has not been any confirmation to her from the prosecutor so, what she got told, there is still some paperwork to finalise, so hopefully by Christmas, but Christmas is not very far away at all.

"But it's definitely good news and fingers crossed now."

Members of the Free Nazanin campaign claim Mrs Zagahri-Ratcliffe only remains in prison because of a financial row between Iran and the UK.

They add that the British-Iranian mother was told her "ongoing imprisonment" was due to a "continuing dispute" between the two countries.

The disagreement was said to centre around the interest rate used to calculate the present value of historic debt.

Mr Ratcliffe criticises the foreign secretary's unsuccessful bids to have his wife released on the second anniversary of her arrest.

He adds that his Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe had been suffering panic attacks in her sleep in recent weeks.

Speaking to Sky News he said: "We want to find out what the government thinks her rights are. She is being held because of something the government hasn't done.

"It is important to establish what obligations it thinks it has."

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe is left "shaken" after being told she is likely to be convicted on a new charge of spreading propaganda.

She denied the charged and pleaded the judge for clemency.

Mr Ratcliffe revealed he had been "quite cross and vocal" with UK authorities at points during her long-running case.

Boris Johnson's replacement as foreign secretary says his office will "do everything we can to bring her home".

Jeremy Hunt was give a painted pebble by Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's family as a reminder of his predecessor's promise to leave "no stone unturned" to free her.

A healthy-looking Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe is reunited with her daughter during a three-day release from prison.

It is the first time she has been allowed out of prison since her arrest in April 2016.

She was called in the morning whilst still in her night clothes and was told she had 10 minutes to get ready.

Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe said: "It will be just awesome for Gabriella to have mummy home finally. We can play with her dolls house, and she can show me her toys.

"The thought of brushing her hair, and giving her a bath, of being able to take her to the park, and feed her, and sleep next to her - it just kills me. It is still so hard to believe.

"I wasn't expecting it at all when it was mentioned two weeks ago. I didn't tell Gabriella or for a long time my mum - so if it didn't happen I would be the only one to suffer.

"I was so emotional to see my grandmother today. I cried so much. I felt so overwhelmed. My dad's home is not my home - but it is so much better than prison.

"People in the ward were so excited - they sang songs and danced. I baked for them in celebration. It felt like this really could be the beginning of the end."

Joy quickly turned to heartbreak for Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe and her family, when was ordered to return to prison after spending three days with her daughter near Tehran.

She was sent back to her cell after a failed bid to have her temporary release extended.

That was despite being told by the prosecutor's office at the end of her agreed three-day release that she would not have to return immediately - and then that her extension application had in fact been approved.

But not long after returning from the office to where her daughter has been staying in Damavand, northeast of Tehran, the 41-year-old received a phone call telling her she would have to be back in her cell by sunset.

She went back to the office - this time with daughter Gabriella - and was told she would need to go back to jail for a few days until the extension was signed off.

In a heartfelt bid to have the decision reversed, Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe reportedly said: "How can you take me away from my baby, when she needs me?

"I haven't done anything wrong - you just extended my cellmate's furlough, and she is serving a longer sentence for bigger crimes. You know I didn't do anything in the first place.

"I have spent two-and-a-half years in prison, and I haven't committed any crime."

Despite the plea, the prosecutor's office has stood firm on its stance and Mr Ratcliffe confirmed that his wife is now back in her jail cell.

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe is taken to the hospital wing of the Iranian prison where she is being held.

Richard Ratcliffe says his wife "blacked out".

He added: "What I do know is that she had a panic attack yesterday in prison and she had another panic attack today, and today she also blacked out, so today she was taken down to the prison clinic and as far as I know that's where she is still."

Mr Ratcliffe told Sky's foreign affairs correspondent Lisa Holland that his wife had been complaining of headaches and that she had been feeling "very very down".

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe was also said to have been feeling a numbness in her right arm and was told she has low blood pressure.

Jeremy Hunt warns Iran to stop putting innocent people in prison as he prepared to visit the country for the first time.

The foreign secretary calls on Iran to release people, including charity worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, as he becomes the first Western foreign minister to visit Iran since the US pulled out of a nuclear deal and imposed sanctions on Tehran.

"We must see those innocent British-Iranian dual nationals imprisoned in Iran returned to their families in Britain," Mr Hunt says.

The mother-of-one plans to go on a hunger strike in January in protest at being denied access to a doctor and medication.

She plans to carry out the strike alongside prominent human rights activist Narges Mohammadi, who has been charged several times over her criticism of the Iranian government.

"We are urging for an immediate action to be taken," the two say in a joint letter.

The hunger strike is thought to have lasted three days.

Footage of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe being arrested in Iran is released as part of what her husband describes as a "cruel psychological game".

The footage, which was broadcast on Iranian state TV, shows the British-Iranian pushing a baggage cart along at Imam Khomeini International Airport in Tehran before handing her passport over to an unidentified man in April 2016.

He asks the mother-of-one for her name and whether she has all her luggage, and she is then questioned inside a room at the airport by a representative of the public prosecutor, who tells her he has an arrest warrant.

Richard Ratcliffe says he believed the footage had been released in response to his wife's threat to go on hunger strike, as she protests against being denied access to a doctor and medication.

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe saw the video in prison, he says, bringing the "violation" of her arrest back to her.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is left "terrified" after refusing to spy on Britain for Iran, her husband says.

The British-Iranian detainee was said to have been visited by revolutionary guards on 29 December and asked to go undercover.

Speaking at a news conference in London, Richard Ratcliffe says his wife was told that agreeing to the request could see her released after more than 1,000 days behind bars.

"What really pushed her over the edge was they tried to make her become a spy for Iran against the UK," he adds.

Britain takes its strongest action yet against Iran over the jailing of Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe by deciding to grant the British-Iranian dual national diplomatic protection.

It is the first time in living memory that the government has invoked this tool in protest at the treatment of one of its citizens by another state.

The move elevates Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's case from a consular issue to a state-to-state matter between London and Tehran.

It comes almost exactly three years since she was arrested at Tehran airport.

Jeremy Hunt, the foreign secretary, says he had not taken the decision lightly. He says it "is an important diplomatic step which signals to Tehran that its behaviour is totally wrong".

"It is unlikely to be a magic wand that leads to an overnight result," he adds. "But it demonstrates to the whole world that Nazanin is innocent and the UK will not stand by when one of its citizens is treated so unjustly."

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's husband Richard delivers a Mother's Day card to the Iranian embassy in London signed by nearly 20,000 of her supporters, along with 155 bunches of tulips - symbolising the number of weeks she had been held up until that point.

In Persian culture, tulips - which are part of the national flag - signify eternal love but are also associated with the martyrdom, the revolution and the counter-revolutionary movement.

Hopes are raised when Iran's foreign minister suggests Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe could be released from jail as part of a prisoner swap.

Javad Zarif says there are Iranians in jails in the US and Australia on "phoney" charges.

So far, Iran is refusing to recognise Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's diplomatic status.

The UK warns British-Iranian dual nationals not to go to Iran, citing their "continued arbitrary detention and mistreatment" and the fact that they face an "unacceptably higher risk" of arbitrary detention.

It also warns Iranians in the UK who return to visit family and friends in Iran.

Richard Ratcliffe dismisses an argument said to have been put forward by the UK's Ministry of Defence (MoD) for not paying a debt of £400m that the UK owes to Iran as nonsense.

The Guardian has reported that the MoD does not want the money repaid because it will end up in the hands of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, which is designated a terror group by the US, but not by the UK.

The debt is said to be one of the real reasons Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe is being detained.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe engages in her third hunger strike in jail and her husband Richard carries out a simultaneous one outside the Iranian embassy in London.

The hunger strike lasts 15 days.

Boris Johnson, then a Tory leadership hopeful, rejects any sense of responsibility for the continuing plight of Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, despite incorrectly saying that she was "teaching people journalism" while he was foreign secretary.

Outgoing prime minister Theresa May said she was "extremely concerned" following reports Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe had been moved to a mental health ward.

She again called for her release, after Mr Ratcliffe said he and her family had not had any contact with her for 48 hours.

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe is returned to prison after what she describes as "proper torture", being held in solitary confinement on he psychiatric ward of a prison hospital where she was chained to a bed.

Gabriella, the daughter of Mr Ratcliffe and Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, takes part in a news conference as she arrives back in the UK, having spent the previous three-and-a-half years in Iran so she can be close to her mother.

She sits on her father's lap in as he tells reporters about his joy at having her back in his arms, but also the "turmoil" of speaking on the phone to his wife who was "really upset".

The couple decided she should go home to the UK so she could start school.

Mr Ratcliffe says: "She's a bit shy, a bit traumatised, she hasn't seen daddy for a long time. And there's a language problem, so she takes a while to feel safe.

"She has promised mummy she is going to be brave."

Mr Ratcliffe says he fears his wife's condition will deteriorate further as a result of Gabriella being absent.

After coronavirus spreads out of China, hitting Iran hard, the Iranian regime is forced to decide what to do about prisoners in jails where the virus can pass quickly from person to person.

Mr Ratcliffe says Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe is yet to be tested for COVID-19, despite showing symptoms.

Iran's foreign ministry had told the Foreign Office that she had been tested.

As the situation in Iran worsens, another 85,000 prisoners are released - a week after an initial 70,000 were freed.

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe is among the second batch to be moved out of their jails, but her husband says that unlike the others given temporary freedom, she has to wear an ankle tag to monitor her movements, which her parents had to pay for.

She is unable to move more than 300 metres from her parent's home.

There are reports that, following the regime's decision to extend her prison leave, she may be being considered for clemency.

Her leave from prison is extended for another month, as the Iranian government continues to battle the COVID-19 outbreak.

The news breaks that she may be among 3,000 prisoners who Iran's supreme leader has announced will be granted clemency.

Her husband Richard Ratcliffe tells Sky News he is "hopeful" that she will be included, saying: "It feels like we're quite close."

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe is reported to have appeared before a branch of Iran's Revolutionary Court in the country's capital on new charges, according to a local TV report.

Her MP Tulip Siddiq says she is due to stand trial again and the Foreign Office says new charges are "indefensible and unacceptable".

Mr Ratcliffe tells Sky News his wife is being held as a "bargaining chip" amid a £400m dispute between the UK and Iran and the new charges are the latest in a "game of cat and mouse".

Less than a week later it emerges the new trial has been postponed.

The UK expresses "grave concern" after the British Iranian is summoned to court on 2 November and told to expect to return to prison.

The court hearing goes ahead with no British officials allowed to be present, but the hearing is adjourned before she can present her defence.

Consequently, she does not have to return to jail.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab describes the new charges as "appalling".

Richard Ratcliffe calls for "consequences" for Iran if Nazanin is not released on 7 March when her five-year sentence is up.

It comes amid growing calls to describe her treatment as being a hostage, rather than a prisoner.

Mr Ratcliffe tells Sky News he still doesn't know if she will be free when her sentence ends the next day.

He says: "The judiciary have confirmed on the computer and shown that yes, indeed tomorrow is the last day and she should be released, but the arrangements haven't been clarified."

On the day her five-year sentence is up, it is reported that Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe has had her electronic tag removed and hopes are raised that she will be freed.

But she is told she will face a court date in coming days, causing confusion about her ongoing fate. Despite being released, she is not allowed to leave the country.

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe is sentenced to another year in prison on charges of "propaganda activities against the regime" in Iran.

She is also banned from leaving the country for one year for participating in a protest in front of the Iranian Embassy in London in 2009, scotching hopes she will be allowed to return home.

With a new foreign secretary, the UK steps up efforts to get Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe released.

Liz Truss says she will be "hard headed" and "proactive" in her approach when she meets Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian at the United Nations General Assembly.

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe loses her latest appeal against her sentence in Iran.

It means she can be sent back to prison "at any time".

Richard Ratcliffe begins another hunger strike in a tent outside the Foreign Office in London.

The strike lasts about three weeks.

Pop group The Christians rework their song Man Don't Cry to send a message of hope and support to Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe.

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe has had her British passport returned, her local MP in the UK, Tulip Siddiq, says.

Ms Siddiq says she understands there is a British negotiating team in Tehran, where she is being detained.

The 44-year-old and another British-Iranian detainee Anoosheh Ashoori are released and are allowed to fly home, to reunite with their families.

The FCDO said another detainee, Morad Tahbaz, is released from an Iranian prison on "furlough" but Tehran will not allow him to fly back.

It emerges that the releases follow a deal to repay the amount the UK owes to Iran for tanks sold but never delivered in the 1970s.

There are emotional scenes at the airport as Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori are reunited with their families after years held prisoner in Iran.

They land at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire shortly after 1am and walk off the plane together, giving a brief wave as they step foot again on British soil.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe criticises the UK government for the delay in securing her release, saying "what happened now should have happened six years ago".

In her first news conference since arriving back in the UK, the 43-year-old thanks supporters including her "amazing, wonderful" husband Richard for campaigning for her release, but says delays in settling the £400m debt with Iran contributed to her "cruel" six-year detention.

As she does so, it emerges British-US national Morad Tahbaz, who was arrested during a crackdown on environmental activists in 2018, has found himself back in custody. He is now on hunger strike.