Husband of Nazanin fears her future now ‘more uncertain and ominous’

THE husband of jailed British-Iranian charity worker Nazanin ZaghariRatcliffe has said he is worried her future has become “more uncertain and ominous” after Iran’s seizing of a UK tanker in the Gulf.

Richard Ratcliffe has expressed concerned for his wife, whom he has not heard from since she was moved last week from Tehran’s Evin prison to a psychiatric hospital.

Mr Ratcliffe said Mrs ZaghariRatcliffe, 40, who had recently ended a 15-day hunger strike, has not been allowed contact for almost a week.

“We were hoping now it is the start of a new week in Iran that we might at least get access. Nazanin’s dad is going down today again to try,” Mr Ratcliffe told The Sunday Telegraph.

“I told the Foreign Office yesterday that in my view we should now regard Nazanin as held incommunicado.”

He said it was not known what treatment she was receiving or how long she was expected to remain in hospital. At Evin prison, she had been allowed regular phone calls.

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, whose British nationality is not recognised by Tehran, is serving a five-year sentence for espionage, charges she denies.

Amid statements on the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz, Jeremy Hunt, the Foreign Secretary, wrote on Twitter yesterday that he was “very concerned about this week’s transfer of Nazanin to an IRGC [Revolutionary Guard Corp] hospital”.

He added: “We’d hoped this meant she was getting medical treatment she needs but the fact that she has been cut off from contact with her family is giving us huge cause for concern.”

The Foreign Office has tried to keep separate Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s case and events in the Gulf, but there are concerns they are being linked by Iran.