The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
UK woman jailed in Iran ‘on verge of breakdown’
The charity worker has suffered mental and physical trauma since arrest last year
British woman Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who has been jailed in Iran, has seen a medical specialist after finding lumps on her breasts and is “on the verge of a nervous breakdown”, her husband Richard Ratcliffe said.
The mother-of-one has “expressed anger” at Boris Johnson over the “shambles” her case has become but her family said they do not believe the Foreign Secretary should quit.
Mr Ratcliffe said he spoke to Mr Johnson for about 20 minutes yesterday morning, during which the Cabinet minister said he was “deeply sorry for Nazanin’s suffering”.
Mr Johnson told a Commons committee that Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe was “training journalists” in Iran at the time of her arrest last year.
The comments were used in Tehran to justify threats to extend her jail term.
Mr Ratcliffe insisted he did not believe his wife’s interests were served “by more instability” and said Mr Johnson has a “crucial role in the weeks ahead to stand up for Nazanin”. He added: “So that this is clear – for the media, Government and particularly for authorities in Iran – as Nazanin’s husband, I do not believe it is in Nazanin’s interests for there to be any resignations.”
Mr Ratcliffe said the Foreign Secretary “undertook to look seriously at the prospect” of allowing him to join his planned visit to Iran in the coming weeks.
Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 38, has suffered severe physical and mental trauma since being arrested as she tried to leave Tehran last year with her daughter Gabriella following a holiday.
The charity worker was accused of plotting to topple the regime, which she denies, and later sentenced to five years in prison.
On Saturday Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe was taken to Iranmehr hospital, Tehran, to see a specialist for an ultrasound on her breasts. New lumps have been found and she has complained of stabbing pains in her breasts for some months, Mr Ratcliffe said. It follows a previous inconclusive mammogram.
The consultant said the lumps were likely to be benign but her family history of breast cancer, along with the pain, meant she should be kept under “close surveillance”.
Mr Ratcliffe said she again suggested she was on “the verge of a nervous breakdown” and had been “brought to tears” at the “lies” being shown on Iranian television about her case.
New lumps have been found and she has complained of stabbing pains