Britain says Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has spoken to the husband of a British woman imprisoned in Iran as pressure mounts on the Conservative government to step up efforts to free her.
The Foreign Office says Johnson and Richard Ratcliffe spoke by phone Sunday, but did not elaborate further.
Dual UK-Iranian citizen Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is serving a five-year sentence for plotting the “soft toppling” of Iran’s government.
Earlier this month, Johnson told lawmakers that Zaghari-Ratcliffe was “teaching people journalism” when she was detained last year. Her family and employer insist she was simply visiting her family.
On Sunday, Environment Secretary Michael Gove says “I don’t know” when asked what Zaghari-Ratcliffe was doing in Iran.
Family and friends say the confusion has put Zaghari-Ratcliffe at risk of a longer prison sentence.
— AP
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe with her daughter Gabriella (AFP)
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you, David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
From the Liveblog of
Sunday, November 12, 2017
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
