British woman in Iran jail is knitting for her daughter

A British woman in prison in Iran has been knitting clothes for her daughter as she approaches 600 days behind bars. 

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was detained in Tehran in April 2016 as she tried to leave Iran after a visit with her two-year-old daughter. She vehemently denies claims she was plotting against the regime and Britain has called for her release.

Today she managed to get a message out via her husband and revealed lumps she had found in her chest are not believed to be cancerous.

In a bid to keep herself occupied, she has been making a crochet pinafore for her daughter Gabriella, making a pair of slippers and knitting a baby’s jumper in case she is freed and can have another child.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been held in an Iranian jail away from her daughter for nearly 600 days. She denies the fundamentalist state’s claims she is a spy

She has now spent more than 18 months away from daughter Gabriella, who is now three

Her husband is campaigning for her release

She has now spent more than 18 months away from daughter Gabriella, who is now three. Her husband is campaigning for her release

Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe was sentenced to five years in prison after an Iranian court convicted her of plotting to overthrow the clerical establishment. She denies the charge.

The row over Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s continued detention was heightened in recent weeks after Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson wrongly claimed she may have been training journalists.

In a message released today, she spoke of how Iranian TV has used the ensuing British parliamentary debate to repeat heavily-disputed claims that she was a spy.

In a message from her prison cell, she said: ‘It is torture to keep hearing these lies on TV. I get very agitated by all the press attention in Iran. I feel like I don’t have the capacity to do this anymore.

‘It has been so long they have been pressuring me, and then all this these past two weeks. I do not have the strength.’

Last week, her husband met Boris Johnson, whose comments on the case threatened to lengthen Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe's sentence

Last week, her husband met Boris Johnson, whose comments on the case threatened to lengthen Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s sentence

Mr Ratcliffe, who has been unable to get an Iranian visa, has not seen his wife or their three-year-daughter, who is being cared for by her grandparents, since the ordeal began

Mr Ratcliffe, who has been unable to get an Iranian visa, has not seen his wife or their three-year-daughter, who is being cared for by her grandparents, since the ordeal began

She was however given some good news this week after managing to see a doctor, who told her lumps in her chest after not inflaming and are not thought to be cancerous.

But the 38-year-old, who is suffering from PTSD, depression and insomnia after being torn from her child, was denied the chance to see a psychiatrist.

She added: ‘People tell me here it is all about politics. But I don’t care about the politics. Surely I can be released on humanitarian grounds? There are humanitarian grounds for my baby and for me?

‘I don’t want to be in the news. I just want to be a normal person again, with a normal life with my child. I have been waiting for so long. All this time, away from my baby, and for what?’

British diplomats hope a plan to repay a £450million debt the UK owes Iran may improve relations between the two countries, leading to Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s release.

‘I just want to be a normal person again’: Mother’s full statement from Iranian prison

Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe, pictured before her detention in Iran

Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe, pictured before her detention in Iran

“I have really been under pressure this week. It is torture to keep hearing these lies on TV. I get very agitated by all the press attention in Iran. 

I feel like I don’t have the capacity to do this anymore. It has been so long they have been pressuring me, and then all this these past two weeks. I do not have the strength.

People tell me here it is all about politics. But I don’t care about the politics. Surely I can be released on humanitarian grounds? There are humanitarian grounds for my baby and for me?”

I cannot wait for this turmoil to end. It keeps me on the edge all the time. I don’t want to be in the news.

 I just want to be a normal person again, with a normal life with my child. I have been waiting for so long. All this time, away from my baby, and for what?”

 

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