Get my wife out of Iran now, Boris!
Husband demands action to free Briton held for spying
THE desperate husband of a British mother imprisoned in Iran yesterday called on Boris Johnson to get his wife home as a matter of ‘urgency’.
In his first meeting with the Foreign Secretary, Richard Ratcliffe said his wife Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was on the ‘verge of a nervous breakdown’, and warned that the Government can no longer take a ‘softly, softly’ approach.
He also pushed for his aid worker wife to be given diplomatic protection. The Foreign Office says it is now considering the matter.
It came after Mr Johnson faced calls to resign over fears Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 39, could see her prison sentence doubled after he wrongly said she had been training journalists in Iran.
The mother, who was on holiday, was arrested 19 months ago and jailed for five years for espionage. Iranian state media seized on Mr Johnson’s comments as an ‘admission of guilt’, which Mr Ratcliffe said heightens the need for rapid action. He has not seen his wife or their daughter Gabriella, three, since the arrest. Mr Ratcliffe said he used the ‘positive and constructive’ meeting to stress the ‘urgency’ of his wife’s case amid fears over her mental state and physical wellbeing after lumps were found in her breasts.
‘She talks about being on the verge of a nervous breakdown,’ he said.
‘I wanted to stress the urgency of our situation. When I say I would like to see her home by Christmas it is because of that urgency.’
He added: ‘It cannot be softly, softly any more... It is very important something is done to protect Nazanin. The Government needs to step in.’ Mr Johnson vowed to leave ‘no stone unturned’ in the battle to free the aid worker and said he was ‘keen’ to take Mr Ratcliffe with him during a planned trip to Iran.
Mr Ratcliffe, an accountant, has been denied a visa to see his wife and daughter, who is with her maternal grandparents. He said: ‘[The trip] is not yet quite confirmed but he said he was keen to take me on the advice of the Foreign Office.’
He said he also pressed for his wife to be given diplomatic protection, adding that given ‘the Foreign Secretary’s words’ in ‘escalating’ his wife’s case ‘it is an important thing for us to be pushing for’. However Mr Johnson told him he had ‘reserva- tions’ over whether or not it would help. The Foreign Office said the meeting had been ‘positive’ and the British ambassador to Tehran had yesterday ‘urged’ medical treatment for Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe and a decision on her husband’s visa.
It added: ‘The Foreign Secretary and officials outlined that the key question is whether diplomatic protection will have a positive impact on the case, given all the representations that have already been made. They agreed that lawyers should meet in the coming fortnight to discuss it further ... The Foreign Secretary concluded the meeting by saying that no stone would be left unturned in the case.’