Jailed British mother Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe ends 15-day hunger strike in Iranain prison and eats bowl of porridge, reveals husband as he ends own strike outside embassy
- Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and her husband have ended their hunger strike
- It lasted for 15 days and reportedly made work at the Iranian embassy impossible
- She was taken off a flight from Tehran in April 2016 and imprisoned
Jailed British mother Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has ended her hunger strike after 15 days.
Her husband Richard Ratcliffe told the Today programme that she had eaten some porridge with apple and banana while in Iranian prison.
The charity worker, 40, and her husband’s actions, who joined her in the hunger strike by protesting outside the Iranian embassy in London, had reportedly made work at Iran’s diplomatic mission in the capital ‘impossible’.
They also caused the country to revoke diplomatic protection for the UK’s embassy in Tehran.
Nazanin was taken off a flight at Tehran’s international airport in April 2016 and imprisoned by the authorities.
She had been visiting the country with her then 22-month-old daughter Gabriella to see her parents.
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has ended her hunger strike after 15 days. (Pictured) Nazanin and her daughter Gabriella
Mr Ratcliffe told the Today programme that his wife had eaten some porridge with apple and banana.
‘I’m relieved because I wouldn’t have wanted her to push it much longer’, he said.
His protest outside the Iranian embassy had made work at the diplomatic mission ‘impossible’, reports The Times.
Ambassador Hamid Baeidinejad said he had lodged a complaint with the Foreign Office claiming that he was ‘blocking the entrance’ which had left the staff in ‘complete despair’.
He also claimed that by allowing Mr Ratcliffe to sit outside the embassy the UK was breaching its obligations under the Vienna convention.
Metal sheets have been pictured outside the embassy door, to shield him from visitors, after police refused to remove him.
Nazanin began refusing food during her imprisonment to mark Gabriella’s fifth birthday.
She has been sentenced to five years for allegedly trying to topple the Iranian government.
A project manager with the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the media group’s philanthropic arm, she denies all charges.
The case has added to long-standing tensions between Tehran and London, which is a major arms supplier to Iran’s arch-enemy Saudi Arabia.
Richard Ratcliffe, Nazanin’s husband, pictured outside the embassy in London on the 14th day of the hunger strike