Nazanin ‘still at risk’ as Iran sentence ends
THE husband of a British-Iranian mother detained in Iran for the past five years has said his wife “remains in harm’s way” and “in the middle of this government game of chess”.
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 42, has completed a near five-year sentence in the Islamic Republic over allegations of plotting to overthrow its government – charges which she vehemently denies. The mother-ofone finished the latter part of her sentence under house arrest and had her ankle tag removed yesterday – but must still appear before a court in a week’s time.
Her husband Richard Ratcliffe said that “it’s a mixed day for us” and “Nazanin is genuinely happy” to be free of her electronic bracelet.
He said: “I’m a bit more guarded. It feels to me like they have made one blockage just as they have removed another, and we very clearly remain in the middle of this government game of chess.”
He said he was “grateful” for the “strong words” of Foreign Secretary
Dominic Raab, who earlier condemned the “cruel and intolerable” treatment of Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe and called for her return to the UK.
Mr Ratcliffe added: “She is having a nice afternoon, has turned her phone off and is not thinking about the rest of it. But she remains in harm’s way, even if today she is determined not to feel it.”
Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, of north London, was arrested at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini Airport while taking her young daughter Gabriella to see her parents in April 2016.
The charity worker, who was employed by the Thomson Reuters Foundation at the time of her arrest, strongly denies the charges and rights groups say she was jailed with no evidence and her trial was unfair.
Mr Raab said: “We welcome the removal of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s ankle tag, but Iran continues to put her and her family through a cruel and an intolerable ordeal. She must be released permanently so she can return to her family in the UK. We will continue to do all we can to achieve this.
“We have relayed to the Iranian authorities in the strongest possible terms that her continued confinement is unacceptable.”
The UK has been locked in a high-profile diplomatic tussle over Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s detention and the UK Government has afforded her diplomatic protection, arguing she is innocent and that her treatment by Iran failed to meet obligations under international law.
Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been used as a political pawn, according to Iranian human rights lawyer Shirin Ebadi, and civil rights groups like Amnesty International say she was jailed with no evidence.
Former foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt said on Twitter it was “beyond cruel to toy with an innocent mother” and told Sky News that “hostage diplomacy is wrong, immoral and absolutely disgusting”.