The family of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe spent the last days of 2017 sitting around the phone at their London home hoping for the call to tell them she was being released from Evin jail in Tehran.
The situation seemed favourable. The charity worker was eligible for early release from her five-year jail sentence and the international campaign was growing in volume and effectiveness.
But it never happened. It was one of the many crushing disappointments for Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe and her family over the next four years.
“All that noise didn’t work,” her husband Richard Ratcliffe said a year later. “We’re not hopeful so much as fearful of what the future might bring.”
Interviewed by The National at the time, Mr Ratcliffe said his worst-case scenario was that his wife would be forced to serve her entire five-year term, a prospect he found appalling to consider.
But on Wednesday, the couple eventually received the good news they had been waiting for, after her release was secured and confirmed, along with British-Iranian detainee, Anooseh Ashoori.
They have spent nearly six years apart since her initial arrest, with husband and daughter in London and mother at her family home in Tehran. They were connected only by video and voice calls.
Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe's six years in Iran – in Evin, on an electronic monitor then eventually untagged but still stuck in the country – have been marked by trauma, depression, health fears and painful separation.
The cherished prospect of having a sibling for Gabriella diminished every year the 43-year-old mother was barred from leaving the country. Her husband sought to secure a visa but said promises from Iran to provide one were never fulfilled.
The campaign to free Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who works for the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of the news organisation, had continued during the service of five British foreign secretaries and suffered a series of setbacks.
They included a gaffe by Boris Johnson, who was foreign secretary when he suggested to MPs that she had been in the country to teach journalists.
The comment was seized on by Iranian media – although later withdrawn by Mr Johnson – and Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe was brought back to court four days later. Campaigners claimed there was a direct link between the two incidents.
She was given three days of temporary leave in 2018 but was so traumatised by the prospect of a return to jail that she had to be talked out of a hunger strike. The day after she passed 1,000 days in prison in December 2018, she was visited by interrogators who offered her freedom in return for spying for the regime.
With her health failing under the stress of prison conditions, she spent six days in a psychiatric ward in 2019 handcuffed to a prison bed and monitored by five guards around the clock.
“It was proper torture,” she said in comments released by her family. “It was tough and I was struggling. But I am glad I survived.”
Mr Ratcliffe was prominent in demanding that the £400 million ($522.7m) debt owed by Britain to Iran over an aborted 1970s arms deal should be honoured to ease the path to freeing his wife and other dual-citizen prisoners held by the Iranians.
The dispute over the final figure continued to rumble through the British courts. The government accepted that it owed money but claimed it was difficult to pay back because of international sanctions on Iran.
“Clearly we are caught up in dispute between UK and Iran and that’s not our fault,” Mr Ratcliffe had said.
Today, current UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said repaying the "legitimate" debt was a priority. She did not confirm that it had been paid.
Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe had been out of prison since March 2020 but without her passport was unable to leave the country and the possibility of more time behind bars had always remained a threat.
With the family still separated, Gabriella had written to Mr Johnson, now UK Prime Minister, in December 2020 asking for her mother's return. "Dear Boris Johnson, please can you bring my mummy home for Christmas," Gabriella, now 8, had said. "She has been good."
Mr Ratcliffe’s outspoken campaigning had increasingly been the template for other families demanding that Iran release their loved ones.
Those families have publicly urged their respective countries to raise the issue of their relatives during conversations with Tehran.
Another opportunity to secure Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe's release had come with attempts to resume the 2015 nuclear deal in Vienna.
A letter signed by 20 families of detainees and inmates said there could be no deal without all prisoners being freed and Tehran committing to end the practice of hostage taking. The return of her British passport on Tuesday signalled new hope for Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe's release, with confirmation she was at the airport in Tehran bringing joy to her loved ones.
Why your domicile status is important
Your UK residence status is assessed using the statutory residence test. While your residence status – ie where you live - is assessed every year, your domicile status is assessed over your lifetime.
Your domicile of origin generally comes from your parents and if your parents were not married, then it is decided by your father. Your domicile is generally the country your father considered his permanent home when you were born.
UK residents who have their permanent home ("domicile") outside the UK may not have to pay UK tax on foreign income. For example, they do not pay tax on foreign income or gains if they are less than £2,000 in the tax year and do not transfer that gain to a UK bank account.
A UK-domiciled person, however, is liable for UK tax on their worldwide income and gains when they are resident in the UK.
Four motivational quotes from Alicia's Dubai talk
“The only thing we need is to know that we have faith. Faith and hope in our own dreams. The belief that, when we keep going we’re going to find our way. That’s all we got.”
“Sometimes we try so hard to keep things inside. We try so hard to pretend it’s not really bothering us. In some ways, that hurts us more. You don’t realise how dishonest you are with yourself sometimes, but I realised that if I spoke it, I could let it go.”
“One good thing is to know you’re not the only one going through it. You’re not the only one trying to find your way, trying to find yourself, trying to find amazing energy, trying to find a light. Show all of yourself. Show every nuance. All of your magic. All of your colours. Be true to that. You can be unafraid.”
“It’s time to stop holding back. It’s time to do it on your terms. It’s time to shine in the most unbelievable way. It’s time to let go of negativity and find your tribe, find those people that lift you up, because everybody else is just in your way.”
Western Region Asia Cup T20 Qualifier
Sun Feb 23 – Thu Feb 27, Al Amerat, Oman
The two finalists advance to the Asia qualifier in Malaysia in August
Group A
Bahrain, Maldives, Oman, Qatar
Group B
UAE, Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia
UAE group fixtures
Sunday Feb 23, 9.30am, v Iran
Monday Feb 25, 1pm, v Kuwait
Tuesday Feb 26, 9.30am, v Saudi
UAE squad
Ahmed Raza, Rohan Mustafa, Alishan Sharafu, Ansh Tandon, Vriitya Aravind, Junaid Siddique, Waheed Ahmed, Karthik Meiyappan, Basil Hameed, Mohammed Usman, Mohammed Ayaz, Zahoor Khan, Chirag Suri, Sultan Ahmed
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Yuki Means Happiness
Alison Jean Lester
John Murray
$1,000 award for 1,000 days on madrasa portal
Daily cash awards of $1,000 dollars will sweeten the Madrasa e-learning project by tempting more pupils to an education portal to deepen their understanding of math and sciences.
School children are required to watch an educational video each day and answer a question related to it. They then enter into a raffle draw for the $1,000 prize.
“We are targeting everyone who wants to learn. This will be $1,000 for 1,000 days so there will be a winner every day for 1,000 days,” said Sara Al Nuaimi, project manager of the Madrasa e-learning platform that was launched on Tuesday by the Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, to reach Arab pupils from kindergarten to grade 12 with educational videos.
“The objective of the Madrasa is to become the number one reference for all Arab students in the world. The 5,000 videos we have online is just the beginning, we have big ambitions. Today in the Arab world there are 50 million students. We want to reach everyone who is willing to learn.”
'Doctor Strange in the Multiverse Of Madness'
Director: Sam Raimi
Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Elizabeth Olsen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Benedict Wong, Xochitl Gomez, Michael Stuhlbarg and Rachel McAdams
Rating: 3/5
if you go
The flights
Emirates flies to Delhi with fares starting from around Dh760 return, while Etihad fares cost about Dh783 return. From Delhi, there are connecting flights to Lucknow.
Where to stay
It is advisable to stay in Lucknow and make a day trip to Kannauj. A stay at the Lebua Lucknow hotel, a traditional Lucknowi mansion, is recommended. Prices start from Dh300 per night (excluding taxes).
RESULTS
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
