Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe: Husband looks forward to 'new life'
The husband of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe says he is looking forward to the "beginning of a new life" with her as she returns to the UK.
The British-Iranian woman had been held in Iran since 2016 accused of plotting to overthrow Iran's government - which she denied.
Richard Ratcliffe said he was "deeply grateful" she had been released.
He said he and their seven-year-old daughter Gabriella were looking forward to being a "normal family" again.
"We can't take back the time that's gone," he said. "But we live in the future not the past. We'll take it one day at a time."
He said Gabriella had picked out which toys to take to show her mother when she arrives in the UK - and he had promised one of the first things he would do was make her a cup of tea.
Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 43, and fellow British-Iranian national Anoosheh Ashoori are both on their way back to the UK.
Mr Ashoori was arrested in 2017 and accused of spying, a claim he denied. A third dual national, Morad Tahbaz, has been released from prison but will not be returning to the UK.
Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe had been under house arrest since March 2020, when she was released from prison, and she was given her British passport back this week.
Image source, Tulip SiddiqThe British government said it had settled a £400m debt owed to Iran from the 1970s which had been linked to the continued detention of Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe and other UK-Iranian dual nationals held in the country.
The money owed related to a cancelled order for 1,500 British Chieftain tanks following Iran's Islamic revolution in 1979. The UK government had previously said the debt and the detention of British-Iranians in Iran were not connected.
Mr Ratcliffe said he had been "kept out of the loop" on discussions about the debt and the situation had been "kept behind close doors".
Speaking to reporters in London about his plans, he said: "There will probably be a couple of days peace and quiet somewhere else, and then back here.
"The first thing she wanted was for me to make her a cup of tea, so we will do.
"I think actually we were looking at the house and it needs a bit of tidying, so there might be a bit of tidying, perhaps directed by mummy when she comes back."
'More chapters to come'
Mr Ratcliffe had campaigned tirelessly for his wife's release including staging a hunger strike outside the Foreign Office.
He said their enforced separation had been a "cruel experience" in many ways and that the family was grateful for the support and kindness they had received "from all walks of life".
Mr Ratcliffe said his wife had remained "pretty agitated" in the run-up to her release, and that things had been "bumpy".
But looking to the future, he said it would be "the beginning of a new life, a normal life".
"Homecoming is a journey, not an arrival," he said.
"I don't think it will just be today, there will be a whole process, and hopefully we'll look back in years to come and just be a normal family and this will be a chapter in our lives, but there are many more chapters to come."
He asked his daughter "do we still quite believe it?" about her return - adding it was going to be "lovely" to finally see her again.
Mr Ratcliffe noted his wife had a "big grin" in the picture released of her leaving Iran.
He said when she is back, "we can stop being a moment in history and start being a normal family again".
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