Free
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the British-Iranian woman detained in Iran nearly six years ago, has been released and is on her way back to the UK.
The 43-year-old was arrested in 2016 and accused of plotting to overthrow the Iranian government, which she denied.
Her MP, Tulip Siddiq, tweeted that Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe was at the airport in Tehran.
She had been under house arrest and was given her UK passport back this week.
Her husband Richard Ratcliffe, who lives with their daughter Gabriella in Hampstead, London, had campaigned for her release, including by going on hunger strike in October last year.
Mazel tov.
That is such good news but I’m holding my rejoicing until she is actually back in the UK.
Would you believe it? Iran was once a democracy, led by Prime Minister Mohammad Mossaddegh, whose government was overthrown in 1953 in favour of the antidemocratic Pahlevi Dynasty of the Shah, by a joint CIA-MI6 operation. Motive: oil. Iran has huge reserves. Mossaddegh wanted the oil revenue for the Iranians. His opponents had other ideas.
The Shah was eventually overthrown not by democrats but by the Islam-crazed fundamentalist mullahs. The country has been saddled with a theocracy ever since, with the usual peripherals like publiuc hangings for women (and only women) found guilty of the horrific sin of sex outside of marriage. Their boyfriends/lovers or whatever get publicly named, shamed and reproached; in extreme cases a bit of a public flogging. Nothing to write home about.
Despite all that, the Iranian people and their businesses are world class for their trustworthiness and honesty. They are gracious, in the classical sense of the word.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammad_Mosaddegh
The Beeb says they’re on the plane.
@Omar – Iran is a country I have wanted to visit for years, for various reasons – that it is ancient Persia, hugely influential on Eurasian civilisation; the beautiful city of Shiraz; some spectacular country; agreeable, handsome people; good food. I’ve seen some modern Iranian films and been impressed by them. Sadly, under the present regime it doesn’t look like I’ll ever be able to visit.
Episode 18 “Iranian Interconnections” at the link below may be of interest.
https://www.dancarlin.com/addendum/