ratcliffe who was detained and jailed in
iran nearly five years ago has had her
house arrest lifted
as her sentence came to an end today
raising hopes that she may be a step
closer
to returning to britain but shortly
after her ankle tag was removed she was
told of a court summons on a separate
charge
next week her husband richard says she
remains
in harm's way our correspondent caroline
hawley reports
a rare glimpse into what's keeping this
family together when they're forced to
be thousands
of miles apart i'll just show you it's
still quite a messy house
for six-year-old gabriela an image on a
mobile phone
can't replace the touch of her mother
she's been counting down the days to the
end of her mum's sentence
now the ankle tag nazanin's had to wear
since she was released from jail last
year has been taken off
nazineen said she was ecstatic and went
straight to visit her elderly
grandmother
but in a week she faces a new court case
on another secret charge
so by the time i was speaking to jasmine
the phone was going mad
oh is she out she out is she out um and
and yes she is you know technically the
first court case is finished
at the same time the second court case
simultaneously
has been invoked so the front office
were really pleased that they'd got the
ankle head off when there was some
progress
um and they clearly had
issued a very formal note this morning
saying listen you've got to release that
so the arrangements have done that and
at the same time they've kept you as
leverage
going forward um and i find
my emotional reactions be quite guarded
about what this means and we're still in
the middle of it and we're still in the
middle of this this game of chess
she was at tehran airport preparing to
fly home from a holiday visiting her
parents
when she was arrested in 2016.
since then she suffered months of
solitary confinement
blindfolded interrogations and several
false promises of release
nazineen's been told by iranian
officials that she's been held as
collateral for debt owed by britain
dating back to the 1970s calls are now
growing for the government here to take
a stronger stand
against iran's hostage diplomacy it's
clearly another trump turn-up charge
because hardliners in the regime
are saying uh we've you know we paid the
diplomatic price for holding nasal in
now let's not lose the leverage of
keeping her
and it is totally and utterly inhumane
because at the center of this
is an innocent woman her husband and her
daughter and they are just forgetting
that in all these
grand power games there are ordinary
people who are paying a most
terrible price what's the first thing
you're going to do with mummy
when she comes back first thing you're
going to do together
but now their hopes have been dashed yet
again their mps called it mental torture
for how much longer will they have to go
through this agony of separation
only when she's safely on a flight back
to the uk will they know
their ordeal is finally over
[Music]
and caroline hall is here in the studio
now how likely is it caroline that
this does lead in time to her return to
britain look that is an impossible
question
we don't know what will happen next week
she still doesn't have her british
passport back
the new court case could be used to
block her release
richard has told me that the iranians
see nazanin as an asset and that they're
essentially making this up as they go
along
the debt that the uk owes to iran for
tanks that were never
delivered to iran after the islamic
revolution that is still
outstanding the uk acknowledges it owes
the debt but can't be
pay it back because of sanctions so
you've got these very complicated
geopolitics and then a family
caught in the middle of all of this and
it's been this horrific emotional
rollercoaster for them
and all of that in a way collapsed into
just today the ups and the downs
the joy of nazanin's release the idea
that now she can go out and have a cup
of coffee a simple pleasure
and then this threat of a new court case
next week
caroline hawley thank you