Members of the Cardiff Amnesty Group were delighted by the release of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori last week.

Trawling though old blog posts we can see that the group started campaigning for Nazanin in June 2016. We first heard of Nazanin and Gabriella at a candlelight vigil outside the Senedd. Prayers and reflections for Nazanin were led by her sister-in-law, Rebecca Ratcliffe. Those attending the event on the steps of the Senedd were asked to write messages of solidarity in a book for Nazanin. The heartfelt messages spoke of a common humanity:

“ … Our thoughts and prayers are with your family… ”

“ … I cannot imagine what you are going through …”

“ … Wishing you a speedy return to your family …”

Over the intervening six years people across the world have never stopped hoping for a ‘speedy return’ home to all those detained in Iran. Looking back, we count 24 blogposts from the Cardiff Amnesty Group campaigning for Nazanin and others being held in Iran. From Richard Ratcliffe’s Hunger Strikes, to the London to Tehran Challenge and of course our Knit for Naz campaign. These blogposts only cover only a part of the collective effort over these years.

While we are delighted for Nazanin and Anoosheh, there are other dual-national citizens still being held in Iran. We will continue to call for the full and unconditional release of British citizens Morad Tahbaz and Mehran Raoof.

But we will also take this opportunity to celebrate families reunited after far too many years. Thank you for everyone who has helped us campaign, thank you for your solidarity.

If you want to step up and speak out against injustice, or just learn more about the work of Cardiff Amnesty, you can reach us at amnesty.cardiff@btinternet.com