British subject Nazanin Zaghari Ratcliffe, an employee of the Thomson-Reuters Foundation, has been held hostage by the Iranian regime since her arrest 19 months ago while visiting her family in Tehran. She had taken the couple’s 22 month-old daughter, Gabriella, to visit her parents for Nowruz, Persia’s ancient annual spring holiday. On 3 April 2016, as she was in line to board her return flight to London at the end of her visit, she was detained at the airport by members of the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps, the IRGC. They refused to say what charges led to her arrest.
Her husband tells how he learned of her detention: “Nazanin was on holiday. I was due to pick her up from Gatwick Airport at 8am. I was in bed when I got the phone call from her family saying she had not caught the flight…. When she was finally allowed to call, I was so relieved. She said she was being held, was safe and had a kebab for lunch. She wasn’t allowed to talk about anything else.”
A Political Hostage
It took him several days to realize what was happening. None of the family members were aware at the time that Iran and Great Britain had just agreed to a partial restoration of diplomatic relations (severed 5 years earlier after a group of students attacked the British Embassy in Tehran). The agreement included a framework outlining the major elements of a nuclear deal.
In hindsight, it looks as though Nazanin was taken hostage to ensure British cooperation
In hindsight, it looks as though Nazanin was taken hostage to ensure British cooperation on the deal, and to hold her for ransom. They arrested other dual nationals shortly thereafter. It wouldn’t be the first time. Iran held 4 Americans hostage during its negotiations with President Obama and John Kerry were negotiating the Iran deal. Iran released the hostages only after Obama sent planeloads of cash eventually amounting to $1.2 billion.
None of that was apparent to Richard or Nazanin, or their families, when she was first arrested. Their thoughts were for each other, and their child. “Gabriella was safe with her grandparents but I knew she would be missing her mum. Until that point, Nazanin had left her only once for one night, with me.”
Nearly two years later, Gabriella is still safe with her grandparents, but she no longer speaks English. Richard speaks no Persian, and his in-laws speak little English, so communicating with them is difficult. He spends time with his daughter over video calls three times per week, but their interactions are limited to her showing him how she plays with her toys and her dolls, and his drawing pictures for her. She is allowed to visit her mother, who draws pictures of Gabriella with two parents, so she understands that she has a father, but Richard says he thinks his daughter sees him as something like an imaginary friend on the telephone.
In Nazanin’s first trial in September 2016, she was convicted of trying to foster regime change using cyber and media projects, and sentenced to five years in prison. Her appeal was denied by Iran’s Supreme Court in April 2017. She has been held in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison.
Additional Charges Filed Against Nazanin
As she was nearing for early release this fall, Nazanin’s case was dealt a serious blow by friendly fire, a slip of the tongue by Britain’s Foreign Minister, Boris Johnson. Speaking of her case in the House of Commons in early November, Johnson said that she had been in Tehran training journalists. Apparently he was relying on a mistaken report in the Guardian newspaper, and on the knowledge that training journalists was the focus of her work at the Thomson-Reuters Foundation. The family and the British government, however, have clarified that she had been in Iran only to visit her family, and Johnson corrected his mistake the next day.
The Iranian regime quickly took advantage of Foreign Minister Johnson’s mistake, and brought Nazanin up for a new trial, using his statement as evidence. She now faces charges that could result in up to 16 additional years in prison.
Over the past year and a half, several senior members of the British government have made extraordinary appeals to Iranian officials. Prime Minister Theresa May has spoken directly with President Rouhani. But Iran has remained inflexible.
There are reports that Britain is considering transferring over £400 million to Iran
Now, there are reports that Britain is considering transferring over £400 million to Iran, money held by the UK since the Iranian revolution. Iran’s ambassador to Britain said today that the money will be transferred within a matter of days. “An outstanding debt owed by the UK to Tehran will be transferred to the central bank of Iran in the coming days. The payment … has nothing to do with Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s case.”
If history is a guide, the payment has everything to do with her case, and the Ratcliffe family will be reunited soon. They, their friends and families, and their million-plus supporters around the world will rejoice. But how long will it be before the cynical regime in Tehran takes another innocent hostage, and separates another family, and the cycle starts all over again? It is time for civilized nations to stand against Iran’s official piracy.
