Iran ‘hostage’ probes UK process

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has asked why she is still incarcerated in Iran more than three years after being detained – after Australia secured the release of two citizens last week.

Jolie King, a dual BritishAustralian citizen, and her Australian boyfriend Mark Firkin were returned to Australia last week, some three months after being arrested.

The couple, who had been vlogging on their journey across Asia, were arrested on spying charges after flying a drone near a military base.

Their release, which came with the pair yet to face a court hearing, was secured as Australia returned scientist Reza Dehbashi to Iran.

He had been detained for 13 months in Australia over the purchase of a defence system from the US for use in Iran.

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who was arrested in Iran in 2016 and given a five-year sentence for allegedly plotting against the Iranian government, had come to know Ms King in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison.

While pleased to hear of the couple’s return to Australia, Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been left to question why British officials have not yet secured her release, according to her husband Richard Ratcliffe.

He told The Times: “She did ask how come the Australians can solve their hostage cases in a couple of months while the UK has taken over three and a half years.”

Iran’s foreign minister Mohammed Javad Zarif has said Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s fate was connected to a historic debt Britain owed Iran over a decades-old weapons deal.