Tag: nazanin Zaghari Ratcliffe

Nazanin talk at Cathedral


Talk by Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe inspiring for those who heard it

March 2025

UPDATE, 12 March: For those who would like to revisit the talk, the Cathedral has produced a recording, available until 17th March. 19 March: now removed.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was interviewed in Salisbury Cathedral by the Rt Revd Bishop of Sherborne, Karen Gorham, about her experiences of being imprisoned in Iran and life after her release. Unfortunately, the sound system was such that many could not hear large chunks of what was said, some claiming only being able to hear a quarter of the discussion.

The local group was pleased that the Bishop, Nazanin and her husband all mentioned the role played by Amnesty and the introducer mentioned the local group in particular.

The event was a sell-out with nearly 1,000 people in attendance. It took place on International Women’s Day.

Nazanin made the point that there was a difference between being political prisoner and a hostage.

Being a hostage brought with it a different set of rules since what the legal case was did not matter. She also said you only appreciate freedom when you don’t have it for a long time. After release she found ‘adjustment quite difficult’. For a long time she said ‘my body was free but my mind was in prison’. Even meals were difficult because she found the rush of having to eat in prison was difficult to shake off.

She discussed the Boris Johnson affair. Johnson blurted out that Nazanin was in Iran to ‘train journalists’ which was untrue: she was there on holiday. This was used by the Iranian authorities against her. It took a long time for Johnson to meet her and he failed explicitly to apologise for his error despite the effect it had on her confinement. Both have been extremely critical of the British government during her ordeal.

Richard, her husband spoke about the ‘of the kindness of strangers’ . He also spoke of the role of Amnesty and of the symbolic nature of the Amnesty logo of a candle in a coil of barbed wire.

We apologise for the partial nature of this post for reasons outside our control. Image, Amnesty International.

BlueSky

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Talk at Cathedral


Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe in conversation at the Cathedral

February 2025

Nazanin will be in conversation with the Bishop of Sherborne on Saturday 8th March in the Cathedral. This is a free event. Details and booking are on the Cathedral site. Members of the Salisbury group and other Amnesty groups around the country campaigned on behalf of Nazanin over a long period of time. We were delighted when she secured her released from prison in Iran. Members of the local group were a little disappointed therefore not to be invited to play a part in the event.

Letter to the Salisbury Journal in 2017

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Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe


BBC programme about Nazanin

Members of the group and supporters will know that we have campaigned over the years on behalf of Nazanin who remains trapped in Iran. The last post we did can be accessed here. The main reason is the issue surrounding the tank deal we arranged with the Shah before he was deposed. Iran paid up front for these and after he was deposed the contract was cancelled and the new regime wanted its money back. Nazanin is effectively a hostage for this money.

At 13:45, after the World at One on Radio 4 (BBC) there is a fifteen minute programme each day on the background to this tragedy. You will be able to hear it via BBC Sounds in the usual way.

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Nazanin Ratcliffe


We have received the following post concerning the continuing imprisonment of Nazanin from our local MP:

Thank you for contacting me about Nazanin-Zaghari Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori.

Please be assured that the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office continues to work hard to assist British nationals detained in Iran.  This must be an incredibly distressing time for Nazanin and Anoosheh and their families.  Like you, I want to see them both released immediately.

I am told that the UK Embassy in Tehran continues to request consular access to Mr Ashoori and has been supporting his family.  The UK regularly calls on Iran to release all British-Iranian nationals arbitrarily detained, including Mr Ashoori.

I recognise that Nazanin’s ongoing furlough does not represent the real objective of securing Nazanin’s permanent release.  However, I have been assured that the UK’s lobbying efforts remain focused on getting Nazanin home.  It is completely unacceptable that Iran has brought new charges against Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe and she must not be returned to prison.

Iran must know the strength of the UK’s convictions regarding this, so it is encouraging that on 29 October, the Iranian Ambassador was summoned to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.  It was made clear to the Iranian ambassador that his country’s treatment of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is unjustified and unacceptable, and is causing an enormous amount of distress.

The UK continues to call on Iran to live up to its responsibilities under international human rights law and the Vienna convention and release dual nationals. Cases continue to be raised at the most senior levels, and discussed at every opportunity with Iranian counterparts.

[…]

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Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe


More bad news

[8 September 2020]

We have just heard the sad and troubling news that Nazanin has been re-arrested by the Iranian authorities.  We do not know the charge.  It appears to be part of the effort by the Iranian government to put pressure on the British government concerning a debt they allege we should pay concerning tanks which were paid for but not supplied.  Amnesty said it was part of their ‘cruel political games’.  We do not have further details at present.

We have added Fortify Rights web address in the list of links at the bottom of the site.  

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Nazanin Ratcliffe


July, 2020

The shameful saga of Nazanin Ratcliffe continues and she is under house arrest with the risk of going back to prison at any moment.  She keeps a bag packed for the eventuality.  You can read the current situation in full on this link from Change.org.  If you haven’t signed the petition perhaps you might consider doing so on the link.

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Journal letter: Nazanin


The following letter from our chair was published in the Salisbury Journal

MOTHER’S Day is around the corner and many people are buying cards and flowers, planning visits and days out with their mothers, and generally making this a special day.
This Mother’s Day we’re [Amnesty International] asking readers to spare a thought for one particular mother – Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the British-Iranian charity worker who’s already spent three years in an Iranian jail after a deeply unfair trial.

For three long years Nazanin has been separated from her young daughter Gabriella, who only gets to see her mother on short prison visits in Tehran.

Recently, the Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt announced the Government was giving Nazanin “diplomatic protection” status, meaning her case is now officially considered to be the cause of a formal dispute between our country and Iran.

This is welcome. It means the UK is taking her plight seriously and is committing itself to using all its international influence to gain her freedom.  Readers can show their support for Nazanin by adding their name to our petition – amnesty.org.uk/nazanin – to the Iranian authorities calling for her release.

Andrew Hemming
Chair, Amnesty International, Salisbury branch

 

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