Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe: I didn’t trust UK foreign secretaries

Watch: Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe criticises UK Government for taking six years to bring her home

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has criticised a succession of UK foreign secretaries over their failure to secure her release from an Iranian prison.

Nazanin spent almost six years behind bars in Iran after being accused of plotting to overthrow the Iranian government, and was released last week after the UK government paid an outstanding £400 million debt dating back to the 1970s. She has always denies all charges against her.

Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Nazanin disagreed with her husband Richard who thanked the foreign secretary for securing her release.

"The journey back home was tough," she told assembled press.

"I grant what Richard said to thank the foreign secretary, I do not really agree with him on that level.

"I have seen five foreign secretaries changed over the course of six years. That is unprecedented given the politics of the UK.

"I love you, Richard. I respect you. But I was told many, many times that, oh, we're going to get you home. That never happened. So there was a time that I felt like, you know what, I'm not going to trust you because I've been told many, many times that I'm going to be taken home.

"But that never happened. I mean, how many former secretaries does it take for someone to come out? Five. It should have been one."

She said her release "should have happened six years ago".

Since she was arrested in Iran in April 2016, five people have served as foreign secretary; Philip Hammond, Boris Johnson, Jeremy Hunt, Dominic Raab and Liz Truss.

She was asked about comments Johnson - who is now prime minister - made about her cause in 2017, in which he said she had been "simply teaching people journalism".

The Iranian government summoned Nazanin before an unscheduled court hearing, in which they cited Johnson's comments as proof that she was engaged in "propaganda against the regime".

Nazanin said she did not follow the politics behind her case, and as her time with visitors was limited, she wanted to spend that time with her family.

"I've got 40 minutes to do something, and have a story with her... and I was not going to miss that opportunity," she added.

"So I did not spend time following the politics behind my story.

"I was powerless in prison."

Watch: Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe reunites with daughter Gabriella

Nazanin added she "did not want to hold a grudge" but it took a "very long time to get me out".

Asked if she was angry about what had happened, she said: "I always felt like I am holding this black hole in my heart all these years, but I'm just going to leave that black hole on the plane when it lands".

"Over the past six years, it has been cruel, what happened to me."

On Thursday, she arrived back into the UK for the first time since her arrest, joining her daughter Gabriella and husband Richard in an emotional reunion.

On their first night back together as a family, the trio slept in the same bed together, with Gabby sleeping between her parents for the first time since she was a baby.

Nazanin has been adjusting back to life in the UK, and over the weekend was pictured making pizzas with her daughter .

Tulip Sadiq, Nazanin's MP, said meeting Nazanin in person was "emotional" and “quite weird” because she had come to know life “so intimately” from speaking to her as she went through her ordeal, but the pair had never previously met in person.

Nazanin was released alongside fellow British-Iranian Anoosheh Ashoori, 67.

Ashoori was arrested in August 2017 while visiting his elderly mother in Tehran and accused of spying.