British-Iranian woman’s temporary prison release extended amid virus fears
Husband of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe says there’s ‘a lot of relief’ in the family after Iranian authorities delay her return date by 2 weeks
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LONDON — A British-Iranian woman serving a prison term in Tehran has had her temporary release extended for another two weeks, her husband said on Saturday.
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 41, is currently on leave from Evin Prison at her parents’ house in the Iranian capital, but had been due to return on April 4.
“Nazanin’s father got told today that it has been extended until Saturday April 18, an extra two weeks,” her husband Richard Ratcliffe told AFP in an emailed statement.
He said the news had prompted “a lot of relief in our house.”
Zaghari-Ratcliffe had last month expressed fears she might contract coronavirus in jail, although she subsequently tested negative.
Her husband had previously said she was required to wear an ankle tag and stay within 300 meters of her parents’ home, in what he likened to house arrest.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arrested at Tehran airport in April 2016 after visiting relatives in Iran with their young daughter.
She worked for the Thomson Reuters Foundation — the media organization’s philanthropic arm — at the time.
Iranian authorities convicted her of sedition — a charge Zaghari-Ratcliffe has always contested — and she is serving a five-year jail term.
The Times of Israel Community.