Naz’s husband pleads with PM to help ill wife
THE husband of British mum Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is begging Boris Johnson to act “urgently” over his wife’s fears she has contracted coronavirus in an Iranian jail.
Richard Ratcliffe yesterday said the PM was at a “critical moment” to save Nazanin from “harm’s way”.
Evin Prison in the capital Tehran, where Nazanin has been held for almost four years on false spying charges, is already believed to have seen one death from coronavirus, although the Iranian authorities have not confirmed it.
Last week, Nazanin reported a bad cold, but in an emotional phone call on Saturday, she said it had become “strange”, with symptoms including “continual cold sweats” and “difficulty breathing”.
Mr Ratcliffe has consulted with UK doctors who say it is “likely” to be coronavirus, yet prison authorities are refusing to test the mum, 41.
Mr Ratcliffe said: “This is a critical moment. I have said clearly to Boris Johnson ‘She is in harm’s way and it is your job to get her out’ – and if you leave someone in harm’s way for long enough, harm will happen to them.
“There is a chance she hasn’t got it, but it illustrates all the time you don’t solve this, bad stuff is waiting.
“We are looking for Boris to have some traction and get her tested, make it clear it is not acceptable for them to leave her in this way.
“It’s clear from Nazanin’s case British citizens in prison abroad are vulnerable. He needs to be making sure he is giving his departments and teams enough resources.”
Boris Johnson mistakenly announced that Nazanin had been “training journalists” when he was Foreign Secretary. Mr Ratcliffe insists the blunder extended her sentence.