Nazanin Marks 600 Days in Jail

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe marks her 600th day in prison today, November 23.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who holds dual British-Iranian nationality, is now eligible for early release, which her lawyer has put forth to both the judiciary and the Iranian parliament this week. 

Her case has received international media recently following British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson’s gaffe and its political fallout, and amid concerns that doctors had found lumps in both of her breasts.

On November 20, the Free Nazanin Campaign reported with relief that a specialist had confirmed that the lumps are not cancerous. The specialist said her condition should be closely monitored and that she should avoid stress and maintain a good diet, both of which are difficult to achieve in prison. And her family and supporters say her psychological health “remains fragile.” A psychologist has diagnosed her with severe depression, and she suffers from insomnia and trauma over being separated from her three-year-old daughter Gabriella. 

On November 1, Johnson incorrectly told a parliamentary committee that she had been training journalists at the time of her arrest. He later apologized for the statement. 

Iranian state media have conducted a smear campaign against Zaghari-Ratcliffe, and used the UK foreign secretary’s erroneous comments as so-called evidence that she is a spy. She continues to be featured on the news on a regular basis. “It is torture to keep hearing these lies on TV,” she told her family.  “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.”

Foreign Secretary Johnson is due to visit Tehran to visit Zaghari-Ratcliffe in prison, though no date has been confirmed. 

Authorities arrested the dual national mother and charity worker on April 3, 2016, as she prepared to leave Iran after visiting her parents in Tehran. She has been accused of trying to overthrow the Iranian regime, but the charges against her remain vague. On November 4, a judge informed her that new charges had been brought against her as part of a new case. If found guilty, she could serve a further 16 years in prison in addition to the five-year sentence she is currently serving. 

On Saturday, 25 November, the Free Nazanin Campaign and supporters will host a campaign event in West Hampstead, London, where Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe lived with her husband Richard and their daughter Gabriella prior to her arrest. The campaign, along with a local mothers’ group and local MP Tulip Siddiq, will appeal to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei for her release. Members of the mothers’ group will march to the Supreme Leader’s Representative Office, the Islamic Centre for England in Maida Vale, to deliver a letter to the Leader urging him  to look favorably on “Nazanin's suffering so that she might be reunited with her husband and daughter this year.”

For more information about Saturday’s event, contact: 

Pramstead [email protected] 

Tulip Siddiq’s office: [email protected] 

Richard’s sister, Rebecca Jones: [email protected]