Nazanin Zaghari's wife requests meeting with Zarif

Richard Ratcliffe, husband of Nazanin Zaghari, has published an open letter requesting a meeting with the Iranian Foreign Minister on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. All diplomatic efforts to secure Nazanin Zaghari's release have so far been unsuccessful.

Richard Ratcliffe has requested a meeting with the Iranian Foreign Minister. The husband of Nazanin Zaghari, a dual Iranian-British citizen who was arrested at Tehran airport in April 2016, says his wife has been taken hostage.

In an open letter to Mohammad Javad Zarif, published on the Independent newspaper portal, he wrote: "Part of the story has been made public, part of it is still hidden. Nazanin is one of the dual citizens of Iran who has been detained for political reasons, like a group of ordinary people who have been caught up in the political situation after the nuclear deal."

He went on to describe what has happened to Nazanin Zaghari-El-Sharif in the past two weeks and requested a meeting with the Iranian Foreign Minister on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.

Nazanin Zaghari was sent on a three-day leave on August 23. Her request to extend the leave was rejected and she returned to prison. Richard Ratcliffe wrote in his open letter that his wife told him she wished he hadn't gone on leave and that he had suffered a nervous breakdown after returning to prison.

He wrote: "His legs are still numb. He was taken to Evin Hospital by ambulance. There are no pictures of him being hospitalized. Your Foreign Office has told the UK that he is doing perfectly well."

Richard Ratcliffe, who has launched a campaign for his wife's release, added that Iran has accused him of a media campaign while he is only working for the release of his family.

Nazanin Zaghari has been sentenced to five years in prison on charges of “activities for soft subversion” and “collaborating with hostile media.” She, who worked as a project manager for the Thomson Reuters Foundation, has denied the charges. The Thomson Reuters Foundation is independent of Reuters and works, among other things, in the field of journalist training. The foundation has called Nazanin Zaghari’s accusations baseless.

All diplomatic efforts by the British government to secure the release of Nazanin Zaghari have so far been unsuccessful. Nazanin Zaghari's husband has asked the British Foreign Office to grant her diplomatic immunity so that she can be released from prison.

Source: DW