Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe ‘heading to Tehran airport and on her way home’

Both Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe and fellow dual-national detainee Anoosheh Ashoori are believed to be heading to Tehran airport to leave the country.

Tulip Siddiq, Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s MP in Hampstead and Kilburn, wrote on Twitter: “Nazanin is at the airport in Tehran and on her way home.”

The Foreign Office has not commented on the reports and earlier Boris Johnson said negotiations about Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe were “moving forward” but “going right up to the wire”.

There is still nervousness in Whitehall about the situation, with sources stressing the pair will not be free until they are actually on a plane out of Iran.

Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s sister-in-law echoed that anxiety, telling the BBC the family would not believe she was free until she was in the air.

Richard’s sister Rebecca Ratcliffe said: “It feels like we are on the home run now but until she leaves that airport we can’t quite believe it.”

Ms Siddiq said that, during her conversation with constituent Mr Ratcliffe, he had stressed that his wife was still “under the authority of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard” but that he could “smell freedom”.

The Labour MP for Hampstead and Kilburn told Sky News the family had “no information about a deal” amid reports in Iran that the UK has paid a £400 million debt owed to Iran.

The apparent breakthrough will bring an end to the ordeal for Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, which began in 2016 when she was detained by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard at Imam Khomeini airport after a holiday visit to Iran where she introduced her daughter Gabriella to her parents.

There have been signs of progress in delicate negotiations between the UK and Iran in recent days.

But Mr Johnson, during a trip to the Middle East, was careful not to elaborate further when speaking to reporters on Tuesday.

A glimmer of optimism for 43-year-old Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe came a day earlier when Ms Siddiq said her British passport had been returned.

Mr Johnson confirmed a British negotiating team was working in Tehran to secure the release of dual nationals, while Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe at the time remained at her family home in the Iranian capital.

“I really don’t think I should say much more, I’m sorry, although things are moving forward,” he told broadcasters at the Emirates Palace hotel in Abu Dhabi.

“I shouldn’t really say much more right now just because those negotiations continue to be under way and we’re going right up to the wire.”

While details of the negotiations remain unclear, it is possible they are linked to a £400 million debt dating back to the 1970s owned to Iran by the UK.

Iranian state media on Wednesday said the UK has “settled a long-overdue debt” to Tehran, paving the way for dual-national detainees to be allowed to travel to the airport with British officials.

The UK Government has accepted it should pay the “legitimate debt” for an order of 1,500 Chieftain tanks that was not fulfilled after the shah was deposed and replace by a revolutionary regime.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss told Sky News on Wednesday that it is a “priority to pay the debt that we owe to Iran”.

The Tehran regime remains under strict sanctions, however, which has complicated efforts to repay the money.

Ms Siddiq praised Ms Truss’ efforts in bidding for the release of her constituent, saying it took a female foreign secretary “who actually did something”.

She told Times Radio: “When we started speaking to Liz Truss from very early on, it did seem like she was making some sort of plan to pay back the debt.

“And if she’s managed to make it happen, then it’s quite an achievement.”

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe served five years in prison after her arrest in 2016.

She was later convicted of plotting the overthrow of Iran’s government, a charge that she, her supporters and human rights groups deny.

She has been held under house arrest and unable to leave the country since her release from prison.