Life has dramatically improved for incarcerated Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe following Boris Johnson’s trip to Iran as the British mother held for nearly two years has seen her prison conditions relaxed.
Her husband Richard Ratcliffe had only been allowed to talk to his wife twice a week until Boris Johnson arrived in Iran to discuss her case last Saturday. He can now speak to her every day.
Since the Foreign Secretary’s trip, conditions for his wife – recently described as on the verge of a breakdown while imprisoned in Tehran – have dramatically improved.
For the first time in nearly two years, all of her Iranian relatives will visit Nazanin in prison tomorrow – her daughter Gabriella, three, both of Nazanin’s parents, two sisters and a brother, instead of her mother and daughter as normal.
The family is clinging onto fresh Iranian media reports that she no longer faces fresh spying charges following the media storm ignited when Boris Johnson mistakenly claimed she’d been in the country teaching journalists when she was arrested.
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has also been officially referred to as a dual national for the first time.
Both steps have encouraged the family that soon she might be released altogether. Her husband still hopes they will be reunited by Christmas.
Richard Ratcliffe says he’s ‘walking taller today’ following a relaxation of his wife Nazanin’s jail conditions in Tehran which mean the couple can talk daily and her Iranian family can visit. Pictured: Nazanin and her daughter Gabriella, now three
Richard Ratcliffe (pictured with his wife and daughter before Nazanin’s incarceration) had only been allowed to talk to his wife twice a week until Boris Johnson arrived in Iran to discuss her case last Saturday
Since the Foreign Secretary’s trip, conditions for his wife – recently described as on the verge of a breakdown while imprisoned in Tehran – have dramatically improved
Mr Ratcliffe told MailOnline: ‘I’m walking so much taller today. It feels like all the work everyone has done since my wife was imprisoned in April last year might be finally starting to make a difference in small, baby steps.
‘From my campaigning, sometimes around the clock, and trying to keep my wife upbeat when I can speak to her, to her Iranian relatives looking after Gabriella and keeping up her contact with her mother.
‘From our supporters, to the Foreign Office doing all they can to push for her freedom and to the Iranians improving her conditions.
‘At the moment all this feels incredibly positive and like we might be getting somewhere.
‘I’m keeping my fingers crossed, but I’m still cautious to avoid walking on any eggshells. But the hope is still very much alive.
‘Yesterday was a rollercoaster of emotions, as I sometimes experience, but it was all in one day.’
Nazanin’s Iranian relatives say that the Tehran Revolutionary Court President Moussa Ghazanfar-Abadi announced recently: ‘I declare that no court session has been held for Mrs Nazanin Zaghari (Ratcliffe).
‘The western media produce unreal reports and no new charges have been raised against her and thus, reports that her jail term might be extended are fundamentally wrong.’
Boris Johnson met Iranian Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani last weekend, as he made a fresh diplomatic push for Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s release
Boris Johnson and his diplomatic mission held talks with Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif as part of his efforts to try to secure the British mother’s release
Mr Ratcliffe still hopes his wife will be released by Christmas and the family has clung onto Iranian reports that she faces no further charges and that Iran has finally acknowleged her links to Britain
Iranian media have also subsequently reported today that Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghassemi admitted for the first time yesterday that Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is a dual national.
He said: ‘Mrs Zaghari is a dual national, but in our view she is Iranian and was convicted in our judicial system, and is currently serving her sentence (five years).
He added that the Iranian foreign ministry would bring up her case with the Iranian authorities on ‘humanitarian grounds. But this is really a judicial matter.’
Nazanin’s husband admitted that he had initially felt ‘flat but appreciative that the UK Foreign Office is doing all that it can ’ after an hour-long meeting with the Foreign Secretary yesterday afternoon.
He had been given cautious feedback on Mr Johnson’s visit to push for Nazanin’s freedom in Tehran last weekend.
The Foreign Secretary had told him that there were no guarantees that there would be any movement in the case for the next 10 days – meaning his dream of reuniting his family for the festive holiday was effectively dashed.
But following on from a positive phone call with her Iranian relatives several hours later, he says he remains hopeful.
Nazanin, pictured with Gabriella before her arrest, is ‘more upbeat’ following his diplomatic mission to convince the country to drop controversial spying charges against her, according to her husband
Mr Ratcliffe told MailOnline: ‘I’m keeping my fingers crossed, but I’m still cautious to avoid walking on any eggshells. But the hope is still very much alive’
Mr Ratcliffe, from north London, had been pushing to visit his wife in her Tehran jail, but now accepts that there are ‘bigger fish to fry’, adding: ‘I had desperately wanted to visit Nazanin in jail and to see how she was bearing up for myself.
‘But now I want everyone’s focus to remain on securing her freedom, so I don’t want anything getting in the way of that.
‘But if she’s not home by Christmas as I’m hoping and praying she will be, then I’ll be pushing to go and see her again in the new year.’
The Iranians were already considering whether they were justified in continuing to hold the Thompson Reuters charity worker on humanitarian grounds following a long awaited health commission meeting with her recently.
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been in Evin Jail since being held at Tehran airport in April last year on spying charges.
She’s since been sentenced to five years imprisonment and as a result has suffered PTSD, severe depression, her long, dark hair falling out and erratic mood swings.
But she has maintained twice-weekly contact with her mother and daughter for several months.
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been in Evin Jail since being held at Tehran airport in April last year on spying charges
Her case has been in the media spotlight ever since Boris Johnson bungled in telling the House of Commons last month that Nazanin had been in the secretive state teaching journalists
She was actually holidaying in Iran and visiting relatives – which the UK Government accepts as fact – but his comments were seized upon in Iran as potential reason to increase her sentence
Her case has been in the media spotlight ever since Boris Johnson bungled in telling the House of Commons last month that Nazanin had been in the secretive state teaching journalists.
She was actually holidaying in Iran and visiting relatives – which the UK Government accepts as fact – but his comments were seized upon in Iran as potential evidence to increase her sentence.
However a senior Iranian MP today poured cold water on hopes that a breakthrough in the case could be just around the corner – and said ‘spies’ should not be freed.
Naqavi Hosseini, a spokesman for the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission said: ‘One of the problems that we face in receiving European delegations is that they make irrational requests from the Iranian side.’
And he said that his commission would reject the request to free the mother-of-one if it was lodged with them.