British woman faces new security charges in Iran
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — A British Iranian woman, already facing five years in a prison in Iran, will face another trial on separate security charges.
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a project manager with the Thomson Reuters Foundation, has already been convicted of "plotting to topple the Iranian regime."
The new security charges were announced on Saturday by Tehran Revolutionary Court’s head Musa Ghazanfarabadi.
“Ghazanfarabadi said the charge against Zaghari in the new case is security-related but or another charge,” Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.
Amnesty International urged Iranian authorities "finally to do the right thing" in a statement released on Monday.
“Nazanin has already been subjected to a blatantly unfair trial and sentence, and a string of unfounded accusations in the Iranian media," said Kerry Moscogiuri, Amnesty's UK’s Campaigns director.
Britain's Foreign Office did not provide comment on the event. The office told Reuters it wouldn't comment on "every twist and turn."
“We urge the UK Government - including the Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson - to now significantly escalate their response to Nazanin’s plight. We need to hear ministers calling for this bogus new case to be dropped and for Nazanin to be released," added Amnesty.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe holds dual citizenship, which isn't recognized by the Iranian state limiting her access to legal representation by British legal consuls. She has been held since being detained at an airport in Iran in 2016.
“Zaghari is to present an attorney and then the court will convene,” Ghazanfarabadi said.
For the initial conviction, prosecutors alleged she was using a BBC Persian online journalism course to train and recruit people for anti-Iran propaganda.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe denies the charges and maintains that she and her then 3-year-old daughter were in Iran visiting family.
British Foreign Minister Johnson has faced pressure to advocate on Zaghari-Ratcliffe's behalf after a political gaffe.
He erroneously said during a parliamentary select committee in November 2017 that Zaghari-Ratcliffe had been "training journalists" in Iran. Johnson quickly backpedaled from the remarks, but not before the Iranian government used his comments as support for their allegations.
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a project manager with the Thomson Reuters Foundation, has already been convicted of "plotting to topple the Iranian regime."
The new security charges were announced on Saturday by Tehran Revolutionary Court’s head Musa Ghazanfarabadi.
“Ghazanfarabadi said the charge against Zaghari in the new case is security-related but or another charge,” Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.
Amnesty International urged Iranian authorities "finally to do the right thing" in a statement released on Monday.
“Nazanin has already been subjected to a blatantly unfair trial and sentence, and a string of unfounded accusations in the Iranian media," said Kerry Moscogiuri, Amnesty's UK’s Campaigns director.
Britain's Foreign Office did not provide comment on the event. The office told Reuters it wouldn't comment on "every twist and turn."
“We urge the UK Government - including the Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson - to now significantly escalate their response to Nazanin’s plight. We need to hear ministers calling for this bogus new case to be dropped and for Nazanin to be released," added Amnesty.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe holds dual citizenship, which isn't recognized by the Iranian state limiting her access to legal representation by British legal consuls. She has been held since being detained at an airport in Iran in 2016.
“Zaghari is to present an attorney and then the court will convene,” Ghazanfarabadi said.
For the initial conviction, prosecutors alleged she was using a BBC Persian online journalism course to train and recruit people for anti-Iran propaganda.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe denies the charges and maintains that she and her then 3-year-old daughter were in Iran visiting family.
British Foreign Minister Johnson has faced pressure to advocate on Zaghari-Ratcliffe's behalf after a political gaffe.
He erroneously said during a parliamentary select committee in November 2017 that Zaghari-Ratcliffe had been "training journalists" in Iran. Johnson quickly backpedaled from the remarks, but not before the Iranian government used his comments as support for their allegations.