Boris gives hope to UK mum held in Iran jail
A BRITISH mother jailed in Iran said she can ‘see some light’ after Boris Johnson held an hour-long summit with the country’s president.
A fresh trial of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who has already served 20 months in prison, was postponed yesterday as the foreign Secretary staged a round of diplomatic talks.
She said in a statement released by husband Richard Ratcliffe: ‘Is there light at the end of the tunnel? I can see some light today, more than before.
‘Having no court suddenly, it feels like God is protecting me. The court, the imprisonment emerged all of a sudden out of the blue, so I hope it can disappear out of the blue also – if there is enough will.’
She had been due in court amid threats to double her five-year sentence after Mr Johnson incorrectly told a parliamentary committee she had been in Iran to train journalists. Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 38, a BritishIranian with dual citizenship, has been held since April 2016 on trumped up ‘espionage’ charges.
Her second trial, due yesterday, was postponed without explanation after Mr Johnson’s two-day visit in Tehran where he raised her plight with Iranian officials.
Mr Ratcliffe described the move as the ‘first ripple of freedom’.
‘without a doubt the foreign Secretary’s presence has had an impact, he has obviously had some good meetings,’ he said.
‘I said I thought that if he had a good Saturday, we might have a good Sunday, with a court case postponed.
‘we are optimistic, the case being postponed is a good sign and Nazanin is definitely more hopeful.’
Mr Ratcliffe, of Hampstead, north London, said his wife was ‘happy and relieved’ at the news.
A foreign Office spokesman said Mr Johnson and President Hassan Rouhani discussed the cases of dual nationals and ‘agreed on the need to make progress’. ‘ we leave with a sense that both sides want to keep up the momentum to resolve the difficult issues in the bilateral relationship and preserve the nuclear deal,’ he added.
Mr Johnson held ‘ frank’ discussions on Saturday with Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif about the case. It was described as a ‘constructive’ meeting.
Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arrested with daughter Gabriella, now three, who is being cared for by her grandparents in Iran, whom Mr Johnson met during his visit.
Mr Ratcliffe said: ‘A month ago I was cursing the foreign Secretary … But he promised when we met that he would do his best for Nazanin, and to date he has been as good as his word …
‘Of course, one swallow doesn’t make a Christmas – Nazanin is not yet on a plane.’
His wife added: ‘There were times before when I felt like I might be getting close to freedom … again it feels close, but I am not planning it, not setting a date for myself.’
‘We are optimistic’