Iran releases unseen video of arrest
Iranian state television yesterday released previously unseen footage of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s arrest in Tehran, as part of a programme accusing the UK of trying to ‘‘infiltrate’’ the Islamic Republic through the BBC’s Persian language channel.
Iran’s Channel 3 broadcast the moment the British-Iranian charity worker was taken aside for questioning by security officials at Imam Khomeini airport in April 2016.
The mother appears shocked but calm as she is approached by the official, who filmed using a hidden camera.
‘‘You are not allowed to travel and you must come with us to the prosecutor’s office where you will hear about your accusations against you and your problem will then be solved,’’ ZaghariRatcliffe is told, in footage posted on the Iranian judiciary’s website.
She replies quietly, asking if she will be allowed to ring someone and let them know that she has been arrested and will not be continuing her journey. The arresting officer tells her that she can do this at a later time.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who was working at the time for the Thomson Reuters Foundation, was later convicted of espionage and sentenced to five and half years in prison.
Despite being eligible for parole, she remains held at Evin prison in Tehran.
It is unclear what motivated Iran to release the footage after more than two and a half years, but it is thought officials are unhappy with the attention Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s case has received since she announced last week that she would go on a hunger strike in protest at her denial of medical care.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who marked her 40th birthday in prison on Boxing Day, has complained of lumps in her breasts and neural pain but has been denied access to a doctor.
Richard Ratcliffe, her husband, yesterday called the allegations made against his wife in the programme ‘‘malicious defamation’’, and said she was being used as leverage against the UK. He described Iran’s ‘‘drip feed of footage for domestic propaganda’’ as one its ‘‘most abusive practices’’.