Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe told to pack bag for prison over new charge

File image of Iranian-British mother Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe 

Credit: Reuters

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been summoned to court in Iran and told to pack a bag for prison, as her family called on the British government to urgently change its strategy in securing her release. 

Richard Ratcliffe, Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s husband, said she had been told to face an Iranian judge in court next Monday to face a new charge brought against her and that she would be returned to the country’s notorious Evin prison. 

Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who holds dual British and Iranian nationality, was detained in Iran in 2016 while visiting her family and convicted on dubious spying charges, as part of an apparent attempt by Iran to use her as a hostage in negotiations with Britain. 

“Yesterday Nazanin was suddenly told that she will be facing Judge Salavati in Court on Monday November 2. She was told to pack a bag for prison and bring it with her when the IRGC [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] pick her up, since that is where she will be going after court,” Mr Ratcliffe said in a statement on Wednesday. 

She had been due to attend a trial in September to face new charges against her, but that hearing was postponed. 

Mr Ratcliffe added that he recently discussed her case with Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary, who is said to have reassured him that diplomatic efforts to free his wife were “ongoing.”

Richard Ratcliffe has been campaigning for his wife's release

Credit: AP Photo/Alastair Grant, file

Mr Ratcliffe said he was concerned that if the situation is not resolved by Christmas then it could drag on for several years. "I do think that if she’s not home for Christmas, there’s every chance this could run for years," he said. 

“So I really hope there’s something we’re not being told, as on the face of it the government’s response seems disastrous, just extraordinary that they won’t change course,” he added. 

The court summons in Iran may be linked to an ongoing court case in the UK that will decide whether London must repay Tehran a £400m debt dating back to the 1970s, when the Shah of Iran purchased British tanks. Dominic Raab, the Foreign Secretary, says the issues run parallel but are not linked. 

It emerged this week that the hearing at the High Court in London has been postponed by six months, reportedly at the request of Tehran. 

Tulip Siddiq, the Zaghari Ratcliffe family’s MP, said on Twitter on Thursday: “She is being treated with contempt. 

“Please @BorisJohnson, do something to help her — demand access to the trial and step up efforts to bring her home.”