Iran has freed Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe as her five-year sentence has come to an end, her lawyer Hojjat Kermani revealed to the Iranian website Emtedad.
"She was pardoned by Iran's Supreme Leader last year, but spent the last year of her term under house arrest with electronic shackles tied to her feet. Now they're cast off. She has been freed", Kermani said.
Echoing Kermani's words, UK lawmaker Tulip Siddiq said on Twitter that Zaghari-Ratcliffe's ankle tag had been removed. However, she quoted her family as saying that Zaghari-Ratcliffe is due to appear in court next Sunday. It is currently unclear when she will be able to leave Iran.
UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab welcomed Zaghari-Ratcliffe's release, but called on the Iranian authorities to allow her to reunite with her family as soon as possible.
On Saturday, her husband Richard Ratcliffe told British media that even though her sentence expires on 7 March, he is concerned that her arrest could potentially "drag on and on".
Who is Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe
Zaghari-Ratcliffe, holding both British and Iranian passports, travelled to Iran in March 2016 to visit her family. On 3 April, she was detained at Imam Khomeini Airport as she and her 22-month-old daughter were to embark on a plane back to the United Kingdom.
The woman, who at the time was employed at Thomson Reuters as a project manager, was accused of plotting to topple the Iranian government. She vehemently denied the accusations.
She was put in Evin prison in Tehran, where she spent four years before her sentence was replaced with house arrest in March 2020 due to the coronavirus threat at the penitentiary facility. However, she was forced to wear an ankle tag.
