Iran returns passport to UK charity worker detained for nearly six years

Iranian authorities have returned the passport of a British charity worker who has been detained in the country for nearly six years, The Associated Press reported. 

Charity worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s local lawmaker Tulip Siddiq said that Zaghari-Ratcliffe still remains at her parents’ home in Tehran, adding that both British and Iranian officials are negotiating a deal to bring her home.

“I am very pleased to say that Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been given her British passport back,” Siddiq wrote on Twitter. “She is still at her family home in Tehran. I also understand that there is a British negotiating team in Tehran right now.”

“I will keep posting updates as I get them,” Siddiq added. 

Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s attorney Hojjat Kermani conformed to the news wire that his client has received her passport, adding that Zaghari-Ratcliffe still remains banned from returning to the country. 

“We hope that these negotiations will be concluded soon,” Kermani told the AP. 

Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who was detained by authorities at Tehran’s airport in 2016, recently served five years in prison after being convicted of plotting to overthrow Iran’s government. 

Zaghari-Ratcliffe, along with her supporter and advocacy group, has denied the charges against her, the AP noted.