Diplomatic immunity plan to get woman out of Iran jail
BORIS JOHNSON is to meet the husband of jailed British mother Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe tomorrow to discuss the possibility of her being offered “diplomatic protection” as part of Government efforts to secure her return from Iran.
Downing Street confirmed that the Foreign Office is looking into the possible use of the status after Richard Ratcliffe spoke with the Foreign Secretary by phone at the weekend.
It is thought that legal advice will have to be taken before determining whether the status – which would raise Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s plight from a consular case to a formal dispute between the two countries – is the best method for speeding her release.
Mr Johnson returned from Brussels to answer an urgent question on the case in the House of Commons, amid continuing concern that his suggestion to a parliamentary committee that Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe was training journalists in Iran has exposed her to the threat of the doubling of her five-year jail sentence.
Mr Johnson came under fire in the Commons over his suggestion that his comments may have been “misinterpreted” or taken out of context, with his Labour shadow Emily Thornberry telling him they were simply inaccurate.
“It is not good enough,” said Ms Thornberry. “If it is a matter of pride that the Foreign Secretary is refusing to admit simply that he has made a mistake, I feel bound to say to him that his pride matters not one ounce compared to Nazanin’s freedom.”
In response, the Foreign Secretary made his fullest apology yet, telling MPs: “Of course I apologise for the distress and suffering that has been caused by the impression that I gave that the Government believe, and I believe, that she was there in a professional capacity. She was there on holiday.”
Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arrested last year on a visit to her parents in Iran, and was handed a five-year sentence on spying allegations.
Her husband, who says his wife is on the verge of a nervous breakdown, has appealed to be allowed to join Mr Johnson on a trip to Iran planned by the end of the year, and to visit her in jail with the Foreign Secretary.