Nazanin Zaghari Ratfcliffe has ankle tag removed as her five year jail term in Iran comes to an end but has to appear at court AGAIN next Sunday
- British-Iranian Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 42, has had her ankle tag removed
- She has been summoned to appear in court next Sunday, MP Tulip Siddiq said
- Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's family had been waiting to hear news of her fate 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.
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 Sunday.
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.
She was arrested at Tehran's Imam Khomeini airport while travelling to show her young daughter to her parents in April 2016.
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has had her ankle tag removed but still has to appear before an Iranian court, according to her constituency MP
In this file photo taken on October 11, 2019 Richard Ratcliffe, husband of British-Iranian aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe jailed in Tehran since 2016, holds his daughter Gabriella during a news conference in London
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe posing for a photograph with her daughter Gabriella
Mr Raab, in a statement from the Foreign Office, said the Government would do 'all we can' to reunite Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe with her family in the UK.
He said: 'We welcome the removal of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe's ankle tag, but Iran continues to put her and her family through a cruel and an intolerable ordeal.
'She must be released permanently so she can return to her family in the UK. We will continue to do all we can to achieve this.
'We have relayed to the Iranian authorities in the strongest possible terms that her continued confinement is unacceptable.'
Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's husband Richard and daughter Gabriella - who is now of school age - had been waiting to find out whether they will be reunited at home in north London.
Mr Ratcliffe told Sky News: 'We're obviously sitting very anxiously here, and she's sitting anxiously waiting in Iran.
'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.'
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.
'She's in that sense counting down and I think probably still at this point treating it like an advent calendar, so the days will come off and then the magic delivery will happen.'
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe posing for a photograph with her husband Richard and daughter GabriellaMr 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.
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
'There's no ambiguity in that, that's just staggering,' he added.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said in a statement: 'The Foreign Secretary and FCDO remain in close contact with Zaghari-Ratcliffe and her family, and continue to provide our support.
'We do not accept Iran detaining dual British nationals as diplomatic leverage. The regime must end its arbitrary detention of all dual British nationals.
'We continue to do everything we can to secure the release of arbitrarily detained dual British nationals so that they can be reunited with their loved ones.'
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