British mother held in an Iranian jail prepares to go on hunger strike

The case of a British-Iranian mother detained in Tehran is a ‘matter of life and death’, MPs warned yesterday, after officials rationed her food.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has threatened to go on hunger strike next week in protest at medical care being withheld.

The charity worker has developed lumps on her breast and suffers from a number of health complaints. 

However Iran has now rationed her food and prevented calls to her husband, Richard, and daughter Gabriella, four.

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 40, was arrested at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini airport in April 2016 and sentenced to five years in jail after being accused of spying – a charge she denies. 

She has now spent more than 1,000 days in prison, which included her 40th birthday and her third Christmas separated from her family.

Yesterday, her MP, Tulip Siddiq, raised her case in Parliament, saying ‘tough rhetoric will not do anything’ to help the mother of one. 

She told ministers that Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s treatment in Iran has got ‘considerably worse’ in the last two weeks. 

Iran has now rationed her food and prevented calls to her husband, Richard, and daughter Gabriella, four, pictured above. Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe will strike for three days in mid-January with Narges Mohammadi, an Iranian human rights defender also in Evin prison [File photo]

During the urgent question, she said: ‘Nazanin has been given a ration of food which has slowly decreased. Nazanin has been told the calls that she was allowed to make to her family and husband in London have now been restricted and will be further restricted. 

She has also been told that she will be denied medical access even though she has discovered lumps on her breast.

‘In light of this, Nazanin has said she will go on hunger strike from next week.’ Miss Siddiq asked for an update on the proposal to grant Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe diplomatic protection and suggested Iran’s detention of British nationals should be discussed at the United Nations Security Council.

She said she believed Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt and Foreign Office minister Alistair Burt were ‘absolutely determined’ to solve the case and found their pledges to help free Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe to be genuine. 

But Miss Siddiq added: ‘The truth is this is a matter of life and death. Tough rhetoric will not do anything.

‘What we need is decisive action from our Government to make sure that my constituent Nazanin comes homes alive to West Hampstead and that is what I’m asking the minister – what action will he take to save this woman’s life?’

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has threatened to go on hunger strike next week in protest at medical care being withheld [File photo]

Mr Burt, replying for the Government, said Iran’s decision to not recognise dual nationality had hindered access. 

He added: ‘We have noticed that if she is to be treated as an Iranian national as they wish, we’re now at a stage where she should be eligible for parole, and we would hope and believe that might be the course of action that could be taken, again I stress, on humanitarian grounds.’

Mr Burt said there was constant communication with Iran over Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, adding: ‘A request for diplomatic protection is still being considered as to whether or not this would add anything to the circumstances.’

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe will strike for three days in mid-January with Narges Mohammadi, an Iranian human rights defender also in Evin prison. 

Mr Zaghari-Ratcliffe said treatment his wife was being denied included: checks for breast lumps, neurological care regarding neck pains and limb numbness, and access to a psychiatrist.