Tehran dashes freedom hope for jailed mum
HOPES of an early release for the British mother being held in Iran on spying charges were dashed yesterday when it emerged that prosecutors are pressing ahead a new case against her.
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s lawyer said on Thursday she had been listed as ‘eligible for early release’, raising hopes that she might be free for Christmas after lobbying by Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson.
Earlier this week her husband Richard Ratcliffe said ‘it feels like the end is much closer’.
He added that he was reluctant to get ‘too hopeful’, yet part of him was still hoping his wife would be home for Christmas.
But yesterday the head of justice in Tehran province, Gholamhossein Esmaili, said: ‘Iran’s judiciary cannot confirm any of the claims in western media about this case.
‘Besides serving her current sentence [of five years], she has also another ongoing case against her in court. We do not know if she would be found guilty or not. When a decision is made, it will be announced.’
Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s family have said the second case could lead to 16 more years in prison, with charges including joining organisations working to overthrow the Islamic Republic. Mr Esmaili also dismissed ‘reports’ of a swap deal, but did not explain what he was referring to.
Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe has dual British-Iranian nationality and the release of such citizens in Iran in recent years has been done mainly through prisoner exchanges.
Iran refuses to recognise dual nationals and denies them access to consular assistance.
It has arrested at least 30 dual citizens in the past two years, mostly on spying charges.
In Moscow, Mr Johnson declined to comment on developments in Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s case, adding: ‘I don’t want to get into a running commentary. There are very good reasons for not saying anything.’
Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 38, a project manager with the Thomson Reuters Foundation, was arrested at Tehran airport in April last year as she was heading back to her home in Hampstead, north London, with her daughter Gabriella, now three, after a family visit.
She was convicted of plotting to overthrow Iran’s clerical establishment, a charge denied by her family and the foundation, a charity independent of Reuters news agency.