Husband fears Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe may be detained until Britain’s debt is resolved
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s new prison sentence is a signal Iran will hold her until the UK resolves a long-standing debt dispute with Tehran, her husband said.
Richard Ratcliffe said on Monday he feared his wife could face “indefinite detention” after being sentenced to an additional year of imprisonment and a one-year ban on leaving Iran.
Mr Ratcliffe said the development “has hit us hard,” as the Anglo-Iranian charity worker has already served a five-year sentence for allegations widely denied by Iranian authorities.
Her lawyer Hojjat Kermani said she received the second sentence for spreading “anti-system propaganda” for participating in a protest outside the Iranian embassy in London in 2009.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the new conviction was “cruel, inhumane and totally unwarranted”.
Some observers have linked Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s detention to a long-standing debt the UK owes to Iran.
Britain is believed to owe the nation up to £ 400million for the non-delivery of tanks in 1979 as the shipment was halted due to the Islamic Revolution.
Mr Ratcliffe told BBC News: “It is certainly a difficult place to live.
“I think this is a signal that is unlimited detention until the debt problem is resolved.”
Iran’s decision to sentence Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe to an additional year in prison is cruel, inhumane and utterly unwarranted. She must be allowed to return to her family in the UK and we will continue to do everything possible to bring her home.
– Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) April 26, 2021
He said his wife informed him of the last sentence during a phone call Monday morning. She has yet to be summoned to jail, with her lawyer appealing the verdict, Mr Ratcliffe added.
The ministers said Britain was continuing to “explore options” for resolving the debt dispute, but insisted that “the two issues cannot be merged into one.”
Mr Johnson tweeted: “Iran’s decision to sentence Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe to an additional year in prison is cruel, inhumane and utterly unwarranted. She must be allowed to return to her family in the UK and we will continue to do everything possible to bring her home. “
His comments were echoed by Foreign Minister Dominic Raab, who said: “This is a totally inhumane and totally unjustified decision.
“We continue to call on Iran to immediately release Nazanin so that she can return to her family in the UK. We continue to do all we can to support it.
It is a totally inhumane and totally unjustified decision.
We continue to call on Iran to immediately release Nazanin so that she can return to her family in the UK. We continue to do all we can to support it.
– Dominic Raab (@DominicRaab) April 26, 2021
Mr Johnson also said the government would “work very hard” to secure his release.
“The government will not stop, we will redouble our efforts and we are also working with our American friends on this issue,” he told reporters.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe MP Tulip Siddiq said the “terrible blow” showed that the government’s efforts to secure her release had “clearly failed”, as she called for urgent explanations from ministers.
“It is devastating to see Nazanin being abused as bargaining chip again,” said the representative for Hampstead and Kilburn.
In 2016, Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arrested for national security offenses and sentenced to five years in prison.
She completed the last part of her sentence under house arrest due to the coronavirus crisis in March, but was returned to court later in the month when she was tried on new charges of “spreading propaganda against the diet “.
Thank you for all the messages regarding Nazanin. Absolutely devastating and shocking news that her husband has just been told. Another misuse of it as a bargaining chip. I am talking to the family and will update when I know more.
– Tulip Siddiq (@TulipSiddiq) April 26, 2021
Rupert Skilbeck, director of Redress, the human rights group supporting Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe, said she had never had a fair trial in Iran and was innocent of the allegations against her.
“Nazanin has already suffered serious physical and psychological consequences as a result of the torture and ill-treatment to which she has been subjected over the past five years,” he added.
“A new prison sentence or house arrest can cause irreparable damage to his health.
“His detention has always been illegal under international law.
“The case should be closed and she should be allowed to return immediately to her husband and daughter in the UK.”
It is so distressing. Iran’s cruelty seems to know no bounds. Impossible to imagine what the family is going through today. The key question is, why is the IMS debt problem still unresolved given the UK’s acceptance that it owes this money? https://t.co/n3usV6m3O9
– Jeremy Hunt (@Jeremy_Hunt) April 26, 2021
Former Foreign Minister Jeremy Hunt asked why the issue of an IMS (International Military Services) debt had not been addressed.
“It’s so distressing. Iran’s cruelty seems to know no bounds, ”the Tory MP tweeted.
“You can’t imagine what the family is going through today.
“The key question is, why is the IMS debt problem still unresolved given the UK’s acceptance that it owes this money?” “
The new prison sentence comes amid tensions in the Middle East over Iran’s nuclear program, with the country abandoning all limits on its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers following the 2018 decision of the former US president Donald Trump to unilaterally withdraw from the agreement.
US President Joe Biden has expressed a desire to return to the deal if Iran respects the limits of its nuclear program.
In a call with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani last month, Downing Street said Mr Johnson raised Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s case and Iran’s violations of its nuclear deal, the Comprehensive Plan of Action common (JCPOA).
A spokesperson for Number 10 said Mr Johnson had ‘stressed that if the UK remains committed to making the Iran nuclear deal a success, Iran must stop all of its nuclear activities which violate the terms of the JCPOA and comply again ”.
