Nazanin Zaghari’s Husband Awaits Action from British Foreign Office

The husband of Nazanin Zaghari, a British-Iranian citizen who has been sentenced to five years in prison in Iran, announced that the British government has not yet taken any action to grant diplomatic protection to Ms. Zaghari.

Richard Ratcliffe said on Wednesday, August 31, in an interview with the Persian service of Voice of America that his meeting with his country’s new Foreign Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, did not result in the desired outcome regarding his wife’s release.

He said: “I met with the British Foreign Secretary, Mr. Hunt, on Monday. He assured me that Nazanin’s release remains among his work priorities and to prove this to us, he showed us a stone that I had given to the previous Foreign Secretary as a symbol of the importance of Nazanin’s case, and said he had placed it next to a photo of his family on his work desk.”

Mr. Ratcliffe added: “I asked the British Foreign Secretary to place Nazanin under diplomatic protection, which is different from diplomatic immunity, but he said he has not yet decided to do so. Therefore, we did not reach the conclusion we were looking for, but in any case he showed that Nazanin’s release remains among his work priorities.”

Nazanin Zaghari’s husband, in explaining why the Foreign Office of his country has not been willing to place Nazanin under diplomatic protection, said: “The Foreign Secretary said he wants to proceed cautiously in this regard because he feels this is not a reasonable step at present, and the Foreign Office does not consider this action logical despite the fact that Nazanin meets the conditions for receiving it.”

The British Foreign Secretary told Mr. Ratcliffe that he intends to meet with Mr. Zarif on the sidelines of the upcoming United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York. Nazanin Zaghari’s husband said he reminded Jeremy Hunt that he will continue his campaign for Nazanin’s release until she returns home to Britain.

Mr. Ratcliffe said that his daughter, who is currently four years old, visits her mother in prison, but cannot speak with her in English.

Ms. Zaghari, who traveled to Iran more than two years ago to visit her family, was arrested by the Revolutionary Guards on security charges and was sentenced to five years in prison in court. She rejected the charges against her, and the Reuters Foundation also officially announced that Ms. Zaghari was a simple employee in the administrative department of the foundation.

Source: Voice of America