Richard Ratcliffe, the husband of British-Iranian prisoner Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who has been detained in Iran for over five years, began a hunger strike on Sunday in protest against her continued detention. He resumed his strike after an Iranian court sentenced her to another year in prison. Amnesty International stated that he plans to continue his protest by sleeping in a tent outside the entrance of the British Foreign Office, seeking to pressure Prime Minister Boris Johnson to secure the release of his wife and other British-Iranian dual citizens held in Iran.
Earlier this month, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss described Iran's decision to pursue unfounded charges against Nazanin as completely unacceptable. She tweeted that there were no reasonable grounds for her continued detention, affirming the necessity for her permanent release. Ratcliffe had previously gone on a 15-day hunger strike two years ago outside the Iranian embassy, a protest that led to their daughter Gabriella, then seven years old, being allowed to travel.
In his petition on Change.org, he mentioned, “We are being treated by the UK government the same way. However, I truly did not expect to go on a hunger strike twice.” He added, “Iran remains primarily responsible for Nazanin's case, but the UK has let us down as well.” He continued, “It is clear that my wife's case could have been resolved months ago, but this has not happened due to diplomatic agendas. The Prime Minister needs to take responsibility for that.”
It is worth mentioning that Nazanin, who worked for the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the humanitarian branch of the Canadian-British news agency, was arrested in April 2016 while attempting to leave Iran with her then-22-month-old daughter Gabriella after visiting her family for Nowruz. She spent the last year of her initial sentence under house arrest due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Iranian prisons. Earlier this year, she spoke for the first time about the torture she endured in prison, revealing how she was bound for extended periods, blindfolded, and placed in prolonged solitary confinement.
She completed a five-year prison sentence after being convicted on September 9, 2016, of attempting to overthrow the Iranian regime and espionage, but was prevented from traveling until an Iranian court issued a new ruling last April sentencing her to an additional year in prison and restricting her travel for another year on charges of propaganda against the regime. She appealed the ruling but lost.
