The husband of detained British-Iranian woman Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe says the UK government warned her family that public comments could jeopardize her possible release date in Iran early next month.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s family has been campaigning for her release since she was held in Iran in April 2016 on sedition charges. She is currently under house arrest.
Her husband Richard Ratcliffe writes on Twitter: “This week the Foreign Office warned us of threats to Nazanin and her family if we continued to publicize Nazanin’s release date.”
He retorts that the family believes “transparency is the best form of protection from abuse.”
The Foreign Office tells AFP that it remains in “close contact with Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe and her family” and continued to “provide our support.”
An undated file photo provided by the family of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian dual national detained in Iran. (Family of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe via AP, File)
“We do not accept Iran detaining dual British nationals as diplomatic leverage,” it says, adding that it was doing “everything we can to secure the release of all dual British nationals.”
Unless Iran finds new grounds to extend her detention, Nazanin’s official release date is March 7, according to Ratcliffe.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe worked for the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the media organization’s philanthropic arm.
She denies charges of sedition but was convicted and jailed for five years. She has spent more than four years in jail or under house arrest.
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
Monday, February 1, 2021
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
