The husband of Iranian detainee Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe says he is looking and feeling “rougher” on the 16th day of his hunger strike outside the Home Office in London.
Richard Ratcliffe added he will “probably” end the prolonged fast when the Iranian delegation leave the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow.
He told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “I’m definitely looking rougher and feeling rougher.
“I don’t feel hungry but I do feel the cold more.
“It’s a short-term tactic. You can’t take it too long or you end up in a coma.”
He added that he will have to listen to his body when deciding when to end his hunger strike.
“At this point I will have to start listening to my body,” he said.
“Over the weekend I spent most of the day sitting down. The batteries were really flat.
“One of the things with a hunger strike is you get more stubborn the longer things go on, so you become less able to flexibly let go.”
Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, from Hampstead, was jailed for five years in Iran in 2016 after being accused of plotting against the regime while taking her daughter Gabriella to visit family in the country. She was sentenced to another year’s confinement in April on charges of “spreading propaganda”.
She has spent the past year on parole at her parents’ home in Tehran, but the latest ruling has sparked fears she could be sent back to prison.
Richard Ratcliffe is calling on authorities to secure the release of his wife. He began his second hunger strike in two years last month.
“I’m staying until the Government responds,” Ratcliffe recently told the Standard.
“I’m hoping that response is to engage with the demands and not to tell the police to move me on.”
Ratcliffe has also urged Boris Johnson to “take responsibility” and push for his cause.
“It is a cold decision to let the Iranian government keep British nationals hostage, like Nazanin,” he said.
“What I would like him to say to the Iranian delegation is that this can’t go on. We should find a way.
“He’s got an opportunity this week – he should take it.”
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) recently announced “we are doing all we can” to free Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe.
A spokesman said: “Iran’s decision to proceed with these baseless charges against Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is an appalling continuation of the cruel ordeal she is going through.
“Instead of threatening to return Nazanin to prison Iran must release her permanently so she can return home.
“We are doing all we can to help Nazanin get home to her young daughter and family and we will continue to press Iran on this point.”
