Ghazala Sharmehed: Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe's release showed that my father can also be released with government pressure
Ghazala Sharmehd, Jamshid Sharmehdami's daughter, says that her father was finally able to have a brief phone call with his family after seven months.
In an interview with the Persian service of the Voice of America on Wednesday, April 25, Ghazaleh Sharmehed said, referring to the fact that her father has been in solitary confinement for more than a year and a half: "I haven't been able to talk to my father for more than a year. Today was his birthday, and after seven months, he called my mother. They told him that Ghazaleh was very worried about you and that he should call her too, but they didn't let him call me."
Jamshid Sharmehed's daughter added: "On that phone call, as usual, they did not allow him to say anything about his situation. He did not even know that Mr. Aghasi, who is his lawyer, had requested to call and meet with him several times."
Ghazala Sharmehed, referring to the brevity of the call, said, "The only thing my father was able to say was that his health, his blood pressure and diabetes, had worsened... and that solitary confinement had taken a huge toll on him mentally and physically."
Ghazala Sharmehed added: "He was not allowed to talk about the case and said if you ask such questions, I will have to hang up the phone."
Referring to the brevity and limitations of this call, Ms. Sharmehed said, "The fact that we were able to hear his voice after seven months and are satisfied with this call shows how bad the situation is. The fact that we are satisfied with just being able to hear my father's voice once after seven months and for a few minutes and know that he is still alive."
In response to the question of whether he hopes his father will be released in light of the possible nuclear deal with Iran, he said: "Yes, my only hope is that we now have a chance that we haven't had in the past year and a half. We have been trying for a year and a half to see what the Islamic Republic wants and how my father can be released, and now it is clear what they want."
Referring to the release of Nazanin Zaghari, Ghazala Sharmehed said: "When governments like Britain want to do something, how open and simple they are. Richard Ratcliffe campaigned for his wife, Nazanin, for six years, and it turned out that Britain did not want to do anything for six years, but as soon as he said he wanted to release them, they were released within two days and he returned to his wife and child."
He continued by referring to the role of governments and their influence, saying: "That is, if they want 100 percent, my father and many others can be released in the process. The important thing is that they want it. All we are trying to do right now, with the letters we send to the German Foreign Ministry and the video messages we send to the US State Department, is to put pressure on these governments to force them to ask. As long as the families don't put pressure on them and release them, it's clear that they won't do anything because it's much easier for them to keep quiet and continue their work."
Jamshid Sharmehed, a political activist and media executive with dual German and Iranian citizenship, was reportedly abducted from the United Arab Emirates and transferred to Iran. His first court hearing in Iran took place in February last year. He is facing charges of “corruption on earth.”
Source: Voice of America
