Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe: British woman detained in Iran for nearly five years has to again appear before a court

A British woman detained in Iran for nearly five years has had her ankle tag removed but still has to appear before an Iranian court, according to her constituency MP.

British-Iranian dual national Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been held since 2016, when she was sentenced to five years in prison over allegations, which she strongly denies, of plotting to overthrow the Iranian government.

The 42-year-old's family had been waiting to hear news of her fate as Sunday marked the end of her sentence.

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been out of prison since last spring due to the coronavirus crisis, but has been held under house arrest at her parents' house in Tehran.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was detained in Iran in 2016.

Her constituency MP, Tulip Siddiq, said she has been in touch with Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's family, who said she has had her ankle tag removed but has been summoned to court next week.

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's husband Richard and daughter Gabriella - who is now of school age - are waiting to find out whether they will be reunited at home in north London.

Mr Ratcliffe previously told the PA news agency that Gabriella was counting down the days until her mother returned.

He explained: "She's got a calendar that she crosses off each day - yesterday she did two by mistake, so we had to tell her that she can't do one today."

Mr Ratcliffe added: "She's been asking: 'When's mummy coming back, when's mummy coming back?' Hopefully this won't be tough for her psychologically if mummy doesn't come back at the end of all those days on the calendar.

"She's had a lot of experience of grown-ups promising her that mummy's coming home and then mummy not coming home."

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been out of prison since last spring due to the coronavirus crisis, but has been held under house arrest at her parents' house in Tehran.

Mr Ratcliffe said: "It is shocking that what started off as a mum and a baby on holiday could be allowed to last for five years.

"There's no ambiguity in that, that's just staggering," he added.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab called for Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe to be allowed to return to the UK.

Reporting by PA

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