Nazanin moved to mental ward after hunger strike in Iran jail

NAZANIN zaghari-ratcliffe has been moved to the mental ward of an Iranian hospital as fears grow for her welfare.

Her husband said she was transferred on Monday following a lengthy hunger strike and is under the control of the revolutionary Guard.

richard ratcliffe said the mother of one has now been kept isolated from family or legal contact for over 36 hours.

He said: ‘At this stage it is unknown how long Nazanin is expected to be in the psychiatric ward. It is not clear what kind of medical treatment will be provided.’

there was also a suggestion that she was taken to the ward while wearing handcuffs. Mrs zaghari-ratcliffe, pictured, was arrested in 2016 on suspicion of being a spy – despite being in Iran to visit family. the 40-year-old was convicted of espionage and jailed for five years. tehran refuses to acknowledge her dual nationality.

Amid escalating tensions between the two countries, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt has urged the authorities to do the ‘right thing’ and free her. Last month, she and her husband both went on a hunger strike to put further pressure on the Iranian authorities for her unconditional release.

Mr ratcliffe camped outside the Iranian embassy in London, leading to complaints from officials there.

Asked what the joint hunger strike had achieved, Mr ratcliffe said more than 100 MPs had visited him to ‘show solidarity’ with his wife, and her case had received media attention around the world.

‘In Iran, we’ve become a much bigger story than we were before and there’s an awareness that really this needs to be solved,’ he said.

the protest made Iranian diplomats in London ‘cross’, with some ‘trolling’ him on social media, he said.

Among those who visited Mr ratcliffe outside the embassy during his protest were Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt and Labour leader Jeremy corbyn.

Mrs zaghari-ratcliffe was arrested at tehran airport in April 2016 and has always maintained the visit was to introduce her daughter Gabriella to her relatives.

Her family accused tory leadership challenger Boris Johnson of worsening her plight by saying when he was foreign secretary that she was in Iran to teach journalism.