On behalf of the Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran, I welcome the release of Nazanin Zaghari and Anoosheh Ashoori from prison and we like to congratulate their families who were finally reunited with Nazanin and Anoosheh.
Anoosheh and Nazanin were finally released from prison on 16 March 2022 after years of suffering at the hands of the Islamic regime in Iran. They were taken as hostages and tortured by the Islamic regime. Throughout these difficult years and despite all the pressure and suffering both Anoosheh and Nazanin and their families endured, they demonstrated a high level of strength, courage, and resilience.
Anoosheh Ashoori is a British–Iranian businessman who was arrested, imprisoned, and tortured by the Islamic regime in Iran in August 2017. He went on a hunger strike and suffered from ill-health.
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is an Iranian-British dual citizen who was detained and tortured in Iran from April 2016. Her daughter Gabriella was taken away from her at the time of the arrest. Nazanin was constantly being threatened and pressurised, and as a form of torture, was intentionally sent to the infamous Gharchak prison, where the common prisoners are held, to further endanger her safety. Nazanin went on hunger strike several times which put her health in danger.
Richard Ratcliff, Nazanin’s husband, campaigned tirelessly for her release. Anooshes’s family and his daughter, Elika, also campaigned for him to be released. All these years, the lives of these two families were put on hold and their daily lives were filled with anxiety and fear as they had no power to release their loved ones. The British government did not take an action soon enough, and effective enough, to secure their release. The two families were left on their own and suffered immensely all these years. It was clear from the very beginning that Nazanin and Anoosheh were taken as hostages by the Islamic regime so they could be used as bargaining chips in all aspects of their negotiations with the European government.
While the release of Nazanin and Anoosheh brings relief and our hearts are full of joy for them and their family, unfortunately, this is not the end of the hostage-taking policy of the Islamic regime in Iran.
Currently, two other British-Iranian are still in prison:
Mehran Raoof, a British-Iranian national and a labour rights activist was arrested on 16 October 2020 and is still in prison and perhaps you haven’t heard his name in the media. The other person is Morad Tahbaz, a wildlife conservationist, who was arrested during a crackdown on environmental activists in January 2018. He is now on furlough but he could be summoned back to prison at any minute.
The Islamic regime in Iran has been kidnapping dual nationals, as well as the citizens of other countries, regularly and holding them as hostages to use them as bargaining chips in their negotiations with different governments. The only way this can be stopped is by politically boycotting the Islamic regime. This boycott should include sanctioning the authorities in the regime, seizing their assets, putting a travel ban on them, and putting a condition of the release of dual nationals as a precondition for any negotiations with the regime including the current atomic negotiations in Vienna and the region.
Shiva Mahbobi
Spokeswoman for Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran (CFPPI)
Shiva.mahbobi@gmail.com Tel: +447572356661