Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe ordered to return to Tehran jail after three-day furlough
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe reunited with daughter Gabriella following her temporary release on Thursday. Picture: Free Nazanin Campaign - Credit: Archant
Jailed West Hampstead mum Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been ordered to return to her Iranian prison following a three-day release, her husband has said.
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe embraces daughter Gabriella, 4, after being released from Iranian prison on a temporary furlough. Picture: Richard Ratcliffe - Credit: Archant
Nazanin was imprisoned in 2016 after being accused of spying while on holiday in Iran – something she denies.
Richard Ratcliffe, who has campaigned tirelessly for her release alongside groups such as Amnesty in the 28 months since, said his wife’s lawyer had been attempting to get her three-day release from Evin on furlough increased to a longer period on Sunday.
The British-Iranian mother was released from the Tehran jail on Thursday and has been staying with family outside the capital.
However, after a “day of mixed messages”, the request for an extension was not granted and she was told she must return by sunset, her husband said.
The photo of Nazanin with her daughter was on display in Belsize Park's Garden for Nazanin. Picture: Linda Grove - Credit: Archant
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Her four-year-old daughter, Gabriella, cried when she realised her mother was leaving.
Richard said: “Nazanin waited for Gabriella to wake up before saying goodbye, and left her family home to return to Evin prison.”
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He added: “She promised Gabriella that the next time she saw her it would be forever not just for a few days – for proper freedom, not just for furlough.
“And next time they will go back to London to be with daddy.”
Gabriella has been staying with family since Nazanin – who works for a charity, the Thomson Reuters Foundation – was detained at Imam Khomeini airport in April 2016.
Foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt said on Thursday the temporary release was “extremely positive” and called on Iranian authorities to allow her to return to her family in the UK.
Additional reporting by Press Association
