Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was the focus of a new Channel 4 documentary filmed over six years, chronicling everything from her arrest in Tehran's Imam Khomeini airport to her husband Richard's commendable efforts to get her home and then her eventual release back to the UK last year.
British-Iranian charity worker and former BBC employee Nazanin's plight began when she was arrested before departing Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport, where she was accused of plotting against the Iranian government and sentenced to five years imprisonment. Since then, she has maintained her innocence, stating that she was on holiday with her daughter Gabriella in Iran, visiting family members. While in prison, she was informed that the debt the UK owed to Iran was the main reason she was being held prisoner. Meanwhile, back on British soil, her husband Richard campaigned tirelessly for her release and their now nine-year-old daughter Gabriella, who was eventually returned to the UK after three and a half years.
For Nazanin, however, the journey was far from over, as she suffered from anxiety attacks and even went on two hunger strikes while in Iran. In 2021, she was moved from prison due to the coronavirus and held under house arrest at her parents' home in Tehran. Shortly after, she was sentenced to a further year in prison and a one-year travel ban as she was found guilty of propaganda against the regime in Iran. Her lawyer said she was accused of participating in a protest in London 12 years ago and speaking to the BBC Persian service.
Eventually, Nazanin was released from Iranian custody after six long, gruelling years - with the whole ordeal captured in the new documentary Nazanin, which highlighted the debt Britain owed to Iran since the 1970s, Richard's relentless attempts to get the UK government to pay the debts, and also contained footage from her emotional reunion with her husband, daughter, and the rest of her family, as she landed back in the UK on March 17, 2022.
So what else has the new Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe documentary shone a light on that we should have been aware of?
1. Richard had to wait over a week to find out what happened to Nazanin
Richard spoke of the early days of Nazanin's arrest, stating that he received a phone call to inform him that there had been a "problem with her passport" and that she did not get on her flight back home. It was a while before he was made clear on what happened, explaining in the documentary: "It was probably a good ten days before we found out where she was and established who it was that had got her, which was the Revolutionary Guard, and that, to me, was when the wheels fell off." He added: "I just realised that she was sitting in solitary confinement somewhere, and I'd done nothing about it."
2. The early days of Nazanin's arrest were muddled with confusion and threats
Upon her arrest, Nazanin was told that he family had "abandoned her", she was "not going to find them alive", her family was "in danger", and if she didn't cooperate, they were "going to kill her family". Richard also explained she was given no change of clothes and was often fed " drugged " food.
3. The life of Nazanin and Richard's daughter Gabriella, while she was in Iran, was also explored
Before Gabriella returned to the UK, she could see her mother twice a week. In particular, the youngster chillingly recalled celebrating her fifth birthday in prison to spend time with her mother. They drew unicorns and shared a cake before she was abruptly taken away by a prison guard.
4. Gabriella spent a few months re-adjusting to life back in the UK
When Gabriella was brought back to the UK by Nazanin's brother Mohammed, he had to act as a translator between the child and her father because she had lost her English language as she only spoke Farsi in Iran. However, months later, it was clear she had settled back into UK life well and was back to speaking English fluently.
5. Richard's frustrations at the Iranian and British governments were documented in detail
Speaking at his annoyance of then foreign secretary Boris Johnson's erroneous comments to a Commons committee when stating that Nazanin was "teaching people journalism" while visiting Iran, Richard claimed in the documentary that the British government "put quite a lot of pressure on [him] to shut up". He added: "[They were] essentially saying, 'keep quiet, you're not helping your wife, you're making this worse'."
6. Nazanin's struggles were highlighted while she was in Iran
Nazanin's desperation at being reunited with her family and her ongoing ordeal's impact on her mental health was also explored in the documentary, with Richard stating of one concerning phone call he had with her: "She said she hated waking up when she was asleep. She said in her dreams, Gabriella was there and then when she woke up, she was back in prison."
7. The presence of not having her mother with her affected Gabriella deeply
The impact of not having her mother around was evident, as Gabriella said she missed her the most at night when it was her bedtime. I cry about it because I want her home," she heart-wrenchingly expressed.
8. Nazanin was eventually freed after long-standing debts were paid off
Nazanin was eventually freed after a reported $530m (£405m) was paid to Iran to settle the International Military Services (IMS debt), which began in 1979 when the British government cancelled an order for 1,500 Chieftain tanks and armoured vehicles following the Islamic revolution in Iran. In the closing credits of the documentary, it was revealed that “the British ended up selling the Chieftan tanks to Jordan, and today they form part of an underwater tourist park.”
9. The family had the emotional reunion they all deserved
The documentary also featured a clip of the highly emotional moment Nazanin was reunited with her husband, daughter and the rest of their family members as she touched down at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire following her six-year-long torment.
