CHARITY worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been forced to leave her daughter to return to jail after an emotional family reunion.
Her lawyer had been trying to get her three-day release from prison in Tehran extended.
However, her husband Richard Ratcliffe said that after a “day of mixed messages” she was told she must return by sunset yesterday.
Earlier in the day, the British-Iranian mother’s went to the prosecutor’s office with her four-year-old daughter where she was told not to do anything to jeopardise her chances of longer-term release, her husband said.
“She was shivering and shaking and crying – and said: ‘How can you take me away from my baby, when she needs me?’”
Zaghari-Ratcliffe, from Hampstead, north London, and who works for the Thomson Reuters Foundation, was sentenced to five years in jail after being accused of spying by Iran’s Islamist regime.
She denies the allegation.
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt tweeted: “Looks like Iranian legal system is impervious to the simple fact at the heart of this: an innocent woman is desperate to be reunited with her family.
“Spoke to Foreign Minister Zarif on Fri but that clearly wasn’t enough.
“The fight goes on #FreeNazanin”.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel