'It should've happened six years ago': Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe refuses to thank Truss for release

ITV News Political Correspondent Carl Dinnen reports on Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe first public comments since returning home

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has said she doesn't believe Foreign Secretary Liz Truss deserves thanks for helping to secure her release from captivity in Iran.

The British-Iranian mother said her release "should have happened six years ago" and did not thank the British government for her release, saying it took UK politicians a "very long time to sort it out".

"Richard said to thank the foreign secretary. I do not really agree with him on that level," she said in a press conference.

She said she has seen five foreign secretaries over the course of six years, adding: “That is unprecedented given the politics of the UK. I love you Richard, respect whatever you believe, but I was told many, many times that ‘Oh we’re going to get you home’.

“That never happened.”

She added: “How many foreign secretaries does it take to bring someone home? Five. I shouldn’t have been in prison for six years”.

Her husband Richard, who has previously gone on hunger strike as part of his constant campaign for his wife's released, said Monday's press conference marked his "retirement day, and I'm thankful this has come".

"We’re still negotiating whether daddy is allowed in the same bed as Nazanin and Gabriella (their daughter)," he added.

Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe was held in Iran for six years after being found guilty of attempting to overthrow the government - a charge she has always denied.

What about Morad Tabaz? Carl Dinnen reports on the difficulty to get another British national home

Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe, along with fellow dual national Anousheh Ashoori, arrived back in the UK in the early hours of Thursday morning after the UK repaid a £400 million debt it owed to Iran over an unfulfilled order for tanks from the 1970s.

But a Morad Tahbaz, tri-national with British, Iranian and American citizenship, was left out of the release deal and remains in Iran.

Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe said the “meaning of freedom is never going to be complete” until Mr Tahbaz and other dual nationals are released and reunited with their families.

He was initially released on "furlough" - allowed out of prison but not Iran, as the other two were released entirely - but he's since been forced back into jail.

"My father was removed from his cell in prison yesterday, but we've only just found out, before we started this afternoon, that he's been returned to the prison," his daughter Roxanne told the press conference.

"It's been over four years now since my father was detained and my mother was put on a travel ban within Iran," his daughter said.

"As you can imagine, my siblings and I are desperate to be reunited with our parents, and therefore I'm here today to ask the question of why my father is the only UK-born national who has been abandoned and left behind there."

His sister said he's gone on hunger strike after being taken back into captivity within 48-hours of his release.

“We haven’t heard from him since and we have heard through a relative just a few hours ago that he’s been taken from the prison and he’s been taken to an undisclosed location and that he’s gone on hunger strike," Tahrane Tahbaz told Today on BBC Radio 4.

Mr Tahbaz, who's been held in Iran since 2018, is described by Amnesty International UK as a "prisoner of conscience," among a group of scientists accused by Iran of espionage over their activities tracking wildlife, including cheetahs.

His sister said she was led by the UK government to believe he would be included in the release deal.

Watch Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe's press conference in full

"That’s what we were told. And the deal was made, the money was paid. And he wasn’t part of the deal – and he’s still there – and we’re very worried.”

Asked for her message to the UK government, Mr Tahbaz's daughter said: “I think it’s very clear that it’s incredibly urgent at this stage, and the bottom line is we want them home.”

Downing Street said the government is continuing to lobby the Iranian authorities for the return of Mr Tahbaz.

“He is a tri-national. We are working very closely with the United States to secure his permanent release and departure from Iran, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said.

“We have been in regular contact with Morad’s family and continue to lobby the Irainian authorities at the highest level.”