The husband of the British-Iranian charity worker imprisoned in Iran has revealed her suffering and regret over a recent three-day release.
In an open letter shared exclusively with The Independent, Richard Ratcliffe said Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe told him she was so upset about returning to Evin prison in Tehran that she “wished she had never been released”.
Mr Ratcliffe’s comments come as Middle East minister Alistair Burt held talks with Iran’s deputy foreign affairs minister Abbas Araghchi in Tehran about the case.
Addressing Iran’s foreign minister Javad Zarif, Mr Ratcliffe described the treatment of his wife’s during her temporary reprieve as a “cruel game”.
He also confirmed Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe is still experiencing numbness in her legs following her collapse as a result of two panic attacks suffered upon her return to her cell on Sunday.
Mr Ratcliffe called on Mr Zarif to meet him next week in New York City – where the Iranian minister is set to attend a UN summit – to discuss his wife’s case.
Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a dual British-Iranian citizen who works for the Thomson Reuters Foundation, was sentenced to five years in jail in 2016 after being accused of spying by the Iranian government. She denies the charges.
Following diplomatic efforts, she was given a three-day release on 23 August and was able to spend some time with her four-year-old daughter Gabriella.
Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe was denied an extension and returned to jail on 26 August.
“Nazanin called me on Tuesday – one of our toughest conversations,” her husband wrote. “She wished she had never been released. She said she felt like one of the radical Islamists’ captives – as though she had been paraded on the balcony then hidden back away.
“After that call, Nazanin collapsed, the result of two panic attacks. She still has numbness in her legs. She was taken by ambulance to the Evin hospital.”
Mr Ratcliffe also claimed an Iranian official called Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s father and warned him to make sure British officials stayed clear of the charity worker during her three days outside of prison.
“As Nazanin was being released, her interrogator called in her father to privately warn him that the British Embassy should not visit her, if she wanted to stay safe,” he revealed.
“Each day he called to note they were monitoring her movements, and check her father was following her to make sure she did not suffer an accident on the street. Those calls cast a shadow over her release, as they were meant to.”
Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s family and lawyer had hoped her three-day furlough might be extended, or turned into a permanent release.
Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe will be eligible for unconditional release when she reaches the halfway point of her sentence next month, according to Mr Ratcliffe.
Kate Allen, Amnesty International UK’s director, called recent events a “crushing disappointment”.
She added: “Nazanin is a prisoner of conscience who should never have been jailed in the first place. Anything the UK government can now do to speed up the process of permanently freeing Nazanin should be done.”
Mr Zarif has been contacted for comment.
