UK summons Iran envoy over Zaghari-Ratcliffe issue
London warns Tehran against throwing the detained woman of Iranian-British origin back in jail
Britain on Friday warned Iran against throwing detained woman Nazanin ZaghariRatcliffe back in jail, after hauling in Tehran’s envoy for a dressingdown over her emotive case.
The Foreign Office summoned Ambassador Hamid Baeidinejad on Thursday to hear renewed demands from a senior official for an end to the British-Iranian captive’s “arbitrary detention.” Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told BBC radio ZaghariRatcliffe was in a “horrific position,” after her husband said Iran had ordered her to report to court for a new trial on Monday and then back to jail.
Britain has made clear to Iran “that is entirely unjustified and totally unacceptable and must not happen,” Raab said. Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who will turn 42 on Boxing Day, has been on temporary release from Tehran’s Evin prison and under house arrest since earlier this year because of the coronavirus pandemic.
She has spent more than four years in jail or under house arrest since being detained in the Iranian capital in April 2016 while visiting relatives with her young daughter. Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who worked for the Thomson Reuters
Foundation — the media organization’s philanthropic arm — denied charges of sedition but was convicted and jailed for five years.
Her husband Richard Ratcliffe said this week that the Foreign Office’s handling of the case “seems disastrous,” and that “the UK is dancing to Iran’s tune.” Raab told the BBC: “We’ve made it very clear we want to try to put the relationship between the UK and Iran on a better footing.
“If Nazanin is returned to prison, that will of course put our discussions and the basis of those discussions in a totally different place. It is entirely unacceptable.” Richard Ratcliffe linked the latest development to the postponement of a hearing that was due to take place on Tuesday in London to address Iran’s longstanding demand for the repayment by Britain of hundreds of millions from an old military equipment order.
“As Nazanin’s husband, I do think that if she’s not home for Christmas, there’s every chance this could run for years,” he said, accusing Iran of “hostage diplomacy.”
Notorious jail
Separately, an Australian academic held in Iran for more than two years has been returned to Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison, friends said on Friday, prompting fresh concern about her wellbeing.
Kylie Moore- Gilbert — who is serving a 10-year sentence on charges of espionage — had disappeared inside Iran’s prison system a week ago, sparking frantic efforts to learn her whereabouts.
“I’m relieved that the Australian government has finally managed to locate Kylie six days after she went missing,” friend and fellow Middle East expert Dara Conduit told AFP. “But make no mistake: This is not a win for Kylie.”
Conditions at Evin are believed to be marginally better than Moore- Gilbert’s previous jail at Qarchak — a women’s facility that has been blacklisted under UN human rights sanctions and is notorious for the ill treatment of political prisoners.
During a previous stint at Evin, Moore-Gilbert reported being held in restrictive conditions and needing psychiatric medications for “gravely damaged” mental health. Friends believe she is now being held at the same ward as before, a facility controlled by Iran’s hard-line Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps ( IRGC). Australia’s Foreign Ministry has said securing her release is an “absolute priority,” but was forced to admit this week that her whereabouts were unknown. “We do not accept the charges upon which Dr. Moore- Gilbert was convicted, and want to see her returned to Australia as soon as possible,” the ministry said after ambassador Lyndall Sachs was able to visit her in Qarchak Prison on Oct. 19.
“After 778 days, she is back at square one in the prison in which she was originally held.”
Moore- Gilbert was reportedly arrested at Tehran airport by the IRGC in September 2018 after attending a conference in Qoms.