Mum in Iran jail denied aid for mystery illness
THE British mother jailed in Iran for supposed spying, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, is being denied medical treatment for a mystery illness that has numbed her right arm, hand and neck, according to her husband.
Richard Ratcliffe said her symptoms have steadily worsened since she was recalled to Tehran’s notorious Evin prison after a temporary three-day release in August. He said his 39-yearold wife, now unable to cook, knit or lift a book, is also suffering from depression.
‘The prison psychiatrist says she needs to see an expert neurologist outside the prison, but the head of Evin’s medical service has refused to grant permission.
‘I am really worried, not just about her physical symptoms but the desperate tone in her voice. She spends many of our calls crying, and she’s clearly at the end of her tether.
‘If she isn’t released soon, I dread to think what may happen to her.’ Detained by the Revolutionary Guard at Tehran airport after visiting her parents with the couple’s daughter, Gabriella, four, in April 2016, Nazanin has now spent 925 days of a five-year sentence in prison.
Mr Ratcliffe said the impact of his wife’s plight on their daughter, who is living with Nazanin’s parents, has been traumatic. ‘On a recent visit she gave her mother her Paddington Bear,’ he said. ‘She told her, “Mummy, if I can’t sleep with you, you can cuddle Paddington.” ’