Hunt warns Iran over jailed mum’s treatment
FOREIGN Secretary Jeremy Hunt has warned Iran there will be “consequences” over its treatment of imprisoned mother-of-one Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.
Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who turned 40 on Boxing Day and has family in Cardiff, is planning to start a hunger strike on Monday in protest against being denied access to a doctor and medication.
She has been held in Iran since 2016 over spying allegations which the UK has made clear it regards as baseless.
Responding to her plans for a hunger strike, Mr Hunt told BBC Radio 4: “She is incredibly brave. We are all thinking of her. Our message to Iran is very simple – do not use individual innocent people as pawns of diplomatic leverage.
“There will be consequences for Iran and for Iran’s reputation in the world. The UK is backing Nazanin. We will do everything we possibly can to get her home safely.”
Amnesty International UK’s director Kate Allen said: “We welcome Jeremy Hunt’s concern for Nazanin and again urge the Government to do everything it can to avert the need for her to embark on the perilous course of a hunger strike next week.
“If the UK can convince the Iranian prison authorities to allow Nazanin the medical care she needs, that would be an important step forward.
“Most of all, though, the UK needs to reiterate its insistence that Nazanin is a charity worker not a criminal, and the Iranian authorities need to accept this and release her.”