Iran
Richard Ratcliffe, husband of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian held in Iran since 2016, sits outside the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in London on November 11, 2021. Photo: Tolga Akmen/AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The husband of a British-Iranian dual national detained in Iran said he had a “depressing” meeting with a UK minister about his wife’s case and is nearing the end of his hunger strike.
Richard Ratcliffe has been on hunger strike, camped out in front of the Foreign Office in London since October 24, protesting the continued detention of his spouse Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe who was arrested in Iran in 2016 and last month lost an appeal on a new conviction of “spreading propaganda” that came with a year jail sentence and travel ban.
Ratcliffe on Thursday met UK Minister of State for Middle East and North Africa James Cleverly after British officials had talks with Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri.
“If I’m honest, quite a depressing meeting,” Ratcliffe told media afterwards. “I had hoped there would have been some kind of a breakthrough and recognition in the meeting with Iran. Maybe that will be happening away from us, but I don’t have any hopes.”
Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who was employed by the philanthropic arm of Thomson Reuters Foundation, was arrested during a trip on Tehran in 2016 to visit her parents with her then two-year-old daughter Gabriella. She was sentenced to five years in jail on espionage charges, accusations she denies.
Ratcliffe claims his wife has been imprisoned as leverage for a £400 million debt that the UK owes Iran. Tehran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian raised the debt in a phone call this week with UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, telling her London must “take immediate action” to repay it.
In their meeting with Bagheri, UK officials pressed him “on the need for Iran to urgently release all British nationals unfairly detained in Iran,” the Foreign Office said in a statement, according to The Guardian.
Bagheri’s meeting with UK officials is part of preparations for a resumption of talks in Vienna at the end of this month to revive the nuclear deal. Amir-Abdollahian tweeted Wednesday that Bagheri’s talks in Europe have been “successful” and when they return to Vienna, Iran is “ready to deliver a good agreement.”
Ratcliffe said on Thursday he is nearing the end of his hunger strike. “We’re not going to be able to do it for much longer because my body is saying so,” he said, indicating he may continue to camp outside the Foreign Office.
Richard Ratcliffe has been on hunger strike, camped out in front of the Foreign Office in London since October 24, protesting the continued detention of his spouse Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe who was arrested in Iran in 2016 and last month lost an appeal on a new conviction of “spreading propaganda” that came with a year jail sentence and travel ban.
Ratcliffe on Thursday met UK Minister of State for Middle East and North Africa James Cleverly after British officials had talks with Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri.
“If I’m honest, quite a depressing meeting,” Ratcliffe told media afterwards. “I had hoped there would have been some kind of a breakthrough and recognition in the meeting with Iran. Maybe that will be happening away from us, but I don’t have any hopes.”
Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who was employed by the philanthropic arm of Thomson Reuters Foundation, was arrested during a trip on Tehran in 2016 to visit her parents with her then two-year-old daughter Gabriella. She was sentenced to five years in jail on espionage charges, accusations she denies.
Ratcliffe claims his wife has been imprisoned as leverage for a £400 million debt that the UK owes Iran. Tehran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian raised the debt in a phone call this week with UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, telling her London must “take immediate action” to repay it.
In their meeting with Bagheri, UK officials pressed him “on the need for Iran to urgently release all British nationals unfairly detained in Iran,” the Foreign Office said in a statement, according to The Guardian.
Bagheri’s meeting with UK officials is part of preparations for a resumption of talks in Vienna at the end of this month to revive the nuclear deal. Amir-Abdollahian tweeted Wednesday that Bagheri’s talks in Europe have been “successful” and when they return to Vienna, Iran is “ready to deliver a good agreement.”
Ratcliffe said on Thursday he is nearing the end of his hunger strike. “We’re not going to be able to do it for much longer because my body is saying so,” he said, indicating he may continue to camp outside the Foreign Office.
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