The toddler daughter of a British woman jailed in Iran is struggling under the pressure of her mother’s incarceration – lashing out at a guard after their weekly colouring session during a prison visit was cut short.
Gabriella, three, is only allowed to see Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who has been held in Tehran on suspicion of spying since last April, for 45 minutes twice a week.
The little girl is oblivious to the global attention on her mother’s plight or her father’s high profile meeting with Boris Johnson to help and try and secure her freedom in time for Christmas.
The Foreign Secretary is now at the heart of the diplomatic struggle after after he appeared to make the situation worse by saying Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe was in Iran teaching journalists.
Her family have always insisted she was on holiday but the Iranian authorities seized on his comments as a reason to try and increase her sentence.
But the impact on Gabriella is really starting to show, her father said, and became apparent when a recent visit to her mother ended unexpectedly.
Richard Ratcliffe told MailOnline how the little girl – who lives with her maternal grandmother in Tehran -became increasingly clingy, burst into tears and shouted at the security guard overseeing a recent precious visit.
Gabriella is struggling under the pressure of Nazanin’s incarceration – lashing out at a guard after a prison visit was cut short. Gabriella normally colours in pictures drawn by her mother, such as the family reunited (above – Nazanin, Gabriella, Richard and Nazanin’s mother)
Gabriella, three, is only allowed to see Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who has been held in Tehran on suspicion of spying since last April, for 45 minutes twice a week
The little girl is oblivious to the global attention on her mother’s plight or her father’s high profile meeting with Boris Johnson to help and try and secure her freedom in time for Christmas but the impact is starting to show
Gabriella normally colours in pictures that her mother draws – with one shown here of their dream of the family altogether again with Gabriella, her mum, her dad and her grandmother and another of British character Paddington Bear.
Mr Ratcliffe said: ‘Gabriella’s routine on those visits is that her mother draws pictures and she colours them in.
‘But on Sunday for some reason, which was not malicious, Gabriella had to leave before she had the chance to do that.
‘She would have been tearful, she clung to her mother and she even confronted the guard for denying her what she saw as her right.
‘This wasn’t just about colouring in, this was clearly a reaction to how her life is now different from everyone else’s at her nursery. But this was the only way that she knew how to express her feelings.
‘There’s nothing that upsets Nazanin more than the burden that all this is taking on Gabriella, or her daughter being distressed, so it would have been difficult for her too.
‘When Nazanin called her two days later last Tuesday, she asked if she was going to get to do her colouring in during their visit the next day. So she remembered her resentment.’
When a recent visit was cut short, Gabriella was distraught, said Mr Ratcliffe: ‘This wasn’t just about colouring in, this was clearly a reaction to how her life is now different from everyone else’s at her nursery. But this was the only way that she knew how to express her feelings’
The Foreign Secretary (pictured with Richard Ratcliffe) is now at the heart of the diplomatic struggle after after he appeared to make the situation worse by saying Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe was in Iran teaching journalists
Her family have always insisted she was on holiday but the Iranian authorities seized on his comments as a reason to try and increase her sentence
Richard Ratcliffe told MailOnline how the little girl became increasingly clingy, burst into tears and shouted at the security guard overseeing a recent precious visit
Yesterday MP Jacob Rees-Mogg told the Government not to pay back a £450million debt demanded by Iran to free her, as it would be seen as a ‘blackmail ransom’, while others said it could ‘open a Pandora’s Box’ used as an excuse to set ransoms for other British inmates.
The prominent Tory backbencher spoke out after Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson vowed to leave ‘no stone unturned’ while scrambling to secure the release of Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe.
Diplomats are reportedly trying to find a way to get around UN sanctions which have prevented the UK paying the Iranians the fee over a 1970s arms deal.
Mr Ratcliffe spoke about how Gabriella is caught in the crossfire, assuming she can’t see her parents because they’re both in jail.
She asks to see her creature comforts back in the UK, her bed, the mobile that hangs above her bed and her Peppa Pig chair when they speak over Skype.
He continued: ‘She doesn’t remember her UK life, but she asks to see what she can recall, her bed, her mobile and her Peppa Pig chair that she used to sit on to watch TV.
‘Nazanin’s grandfather died in Tehran a while ago, and Gabriella wanted to see her favourite cushion given to her by Nazanin’s grandfather.
Mr Ratcliffe (pictured with his family) said his wife was horrified at the impact on her daughter: ‘There’s nothing that upsets Nazanin more than the burden that all this is taking on Gabriella, or her daughter being distressed, so it would have been difficult for her too’
Mr Ratcliffe said Gabriella, who lives with her maternal grandmother in Tehran, assumes she can’t see her parents because they’re both in jail. When talking to her father, Gabriella asks to see her bed and her Peppa Pig chair when they speak over Skype
Mr Ratcliffe also told how despite being a married father, he’s living like a bachelor, while his imprisoned wife worries about him looking after himself
‘Nazanin’s mother, Gabriella’s grandmother, is her full-time parent in Iran now, and I only speak to her when I can if she’s not too engrossed in something like watching cartoons.
‘But her grandmother here, my mother, hasn’t seen her since Nazanin was imprisoned last April.
‘All she can do is FaceTime her every day for contact, which has an impact and makes her angry and distressed.
‘I’m also aware that if I help free Nazanin, her grandmother in Iran will lose all of her contact with her granddaughter when she returns to the UK. It’s really tough.’
Mr Ratcliffe also told how despite being a married father, he’s living like a bachelor, while his imprisoned wife worries about him looking after himself.
He said: ‘I’m a different person now. I’m living like a single man, with my wife worrying that I’m cooking dinner and looking after myself. I’ll suddenly realise that I haven’t cooked in a week and that the only time I clean the house is for media visits.
‘Our marriage is different now too. A month ago we had normal conversations, talking about what others are doing with their lives.
The family is waiting for Boris Johnson to make the next move as they keep up the pressure to get Nazanin released
‘It’s important I tell her what’s going on, but it’s tough for her to hear that everyone else is having holidays, moving house etc.
‘But at the moment her case is all we can talk about. It’s taken over. And when all this calms down again we have to try to go back to being normal.
‘This is an obvious strain on us and on our relationship. We’ve got to find a way back to a nurturing space and to learning how to be a normal family again.’
As Richard awaits a response from his Boris Johnson meeting, he added: ‘I’m no longer in that initial state of shock about what’s happened to Nazanin.
‘But whatever I’m going through I just have to stay strong to cope because all I can focus on is keeping her going and getting her home again.’