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| Jailed Briton's husband appeals to UK ministers not to 'muddy' situation | Jailed Briton's husband appeals to UK ministers not to 'muddy' situation |
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| The husband of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the British woman held in jail in Iran, has written to the government asking for ministers to be reminded she was in the country on holiday at the time of her arrest, after Michael Gove said he did not know why she was there. | |
| “I wrote to the Foreign Office and said, listen, can you please remind cabinet ministers the government’s position is that the government has no doubt that Nazanin was there on holiday,” Richard Ratcliffe told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Monday. | “I wrote to the Foreign Office and said, listen, can you please remind cabinet ministers the government’s position is that the government has no doubt that Nazanin was there on holiday,” Richard Ratcliffe told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Monday. |
| The comments on Sunday by Gove, the environment secretary, were seen as choosing to give political support to Boris Johnson, who prompted anger last week by wrongly saying Zaghari-Ratcliffe had been in Tehran to train journalists. | The comments on Sunday by Gove, the environment secretary, were seen as choosing to give political support to Boris Johnson, who prompted anger last week by wrongly saying Zaghari-Ratcliffe had been in Tehran to train journalists. |
| The foreign secretary’s comments to a committee of MPs and his subsequent reluctance to apologise for the error, which could potentially lead to Zaghari-Ratcliffe being detained for longer in Iran, have prompted calls for him to resign. | |
| Ratcliffe reiterated his view that Johnson’s resignation would not help his wife’s case. He said the foreign secretary had promised to meet him in the next few days, and that the pair might go to Iran together to seek Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s release. | Ratcliffe reiterated his view that Johnson’s resignation would not help his wife’s case. He said the foreign secretary had promised to meet him in the next few days, and that the pair might go to Iran together to seek Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s release. |
| When asked on Sunday what Zaghari-Ratcliffe had been doing in Iran when she was arrested, Gove replied: “I don’t know.” | |
| After both Ratcliffe and the UK government maintained she was there for a holiday, Gove added: “I take exactly her husband’s assurances in that regard. Her family are the people who should know.” | After both Ratcliffe and the UK government maintained she was there for a holiday, Gove added: “I take exactly her husband’s assurances in that regard. Her family are the people who should know.” |
| Ratcliffe told Today he assumed Gove had been seeking to shore up Johnson’s position. He said: “I think there’s a wider politics that people are positioning themselves around, and that will be partly to do with those that are pushing for the foreign secretary to resign, and there will be those that are defending the foreign secretary.” | Ratcliffe told Today he assumed Gove had been seeking to shore up Johnson’s position. He said: “I think there’s a wider politics that people are positioning themselves around, and that will be partly to do with those that are pushing for the foreign secretary to resign, and there will be those that are defending the foreign secretary.” |
| However, Ratcliffe added, he did not think Gove’s comments had worsened his wife’s position: “In all honesty I think it’s more important that the foreign secretary takes a clear position, and the foreign secretary is the one that is appearing now on Iranian TV. | However, Ratcliffe added, he did not think Gove’s comments had worsened his wife’s position: “In all honesty I think it’s more important that the foreign secretary takes a clear position, and the foreign secretary is the one that is appearing now on Iranian TV. |
| “I think his positioning is vital. I think other members of the cabinet think it’s important they don’t muddy it, but they’re less influential.” | “I think his positioning is vital. I think other members of the cabinet think it’s important they don’t muddy it, but they’re less influential.” |
| Ratcliffe said he had had “a positive” phone conversation with Johnson, and that the foreign secretary had promised to meet him this week. At the meeting, he said, they would discuss the idea of a joint trip to Iran to try to see his wife. | |
| Ratcliffe argued it would “send a very clear message, diplomatically” if both went to the prison. Another possible plan would be to see whether she could be given diplomatic protection, he added. | |
| Asked about calls from Labour for Johnson to resign over his error, Ratcliffe said he understood why this was happening, but did not think it would be helpful for now. “There’s obviously a politics that is much bigger than Nazanin and much bigger than us, and not for me to get involved in.” he said. | Asked about calls from Labour for Johnson to resign over his error, Ratcliffe said he understood why this was happening, but did not think it would be helpful for now. “There’s obviously a politics that is much bigger than Nazanin and much bigger than us, and not for me to get involved in.” he said. |
| “I think I’ve tried to be very clear that my job is to bring Nazanin home. I’m really appreciative of all the pressure and concern and push on the government to do more, and also appreciative that for the government it is their job to bring her home.” | “I think I’ve tried to be very clear that my job is to bring Nazanin home. I’m really appreciative of all the pressure and concern and push on the government to do more, and also appreciative that for the government it is their job to bring her home.” |
| Asked about the idea of Johnson stepping down, he said: “I don’t think it’s helpful for Nazanin at this point. I don’t think it’s helpful also in terms of how that looks in Iran, for me to be looking like I’m playing politics. | Asked about the idea of Johnson stepping down, he said: “I don’t think it’s helpful for Nazanin at this point. I don’t think it’s helpful also in terms of how that looks in Iran, for me to be looking like I’m playing politics. |
| “It’s very important for the Iranians to see that this is just a family who is battling, and to bring Nazanin home, and to not get the sense that we’re some sort of great Machiavellian power.” | “It’s very important for the Iranians to see that this is just a family who is battling, and to bring Nazanin home, and to not get the sense that we’re some sort of great Machiavellian power.” |
| Ratcliffe said his wife, who is having medical checks after lumps were found in her breasts, was “very volatile” and angry in phone calls, and was finding the diplomatic focus of the case very difficult. | Ratcliffe said his wife, who is having medical checks after lumps were found in her breasts, was “very volatile” and angry in phone calls, and was finding the diplomatic focus of the case very difficult. |
| “And obviously, now she’s on TV in Iran and TV in the UK there’s a level of stress and accusations that she’s a spy, that are quite stressful to deal with,” he said. | “And obviously, now she’s on TV in Iran and TV in the UK there’s a level of stress and accusations that she’s a spy, that are quite stressful to deal with,” he said. |
| Speaking on Monday in Brussels, Johnson told reporters the Foreign Office was “working very, very hard and intensively” on the case. | Speaking on Monday in Brussels, Johnson told reporters the Foreign Office was “working very, very hard and intensively” on the case. |
| Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 38, was arrested at the airport in Tehran 18 months ago after visiting the country to show her infant daughter, Gabriella, to her family. In September she was jailed for five years on allegations of spying and attempting to topple the Iranian regime. | |
| Her local Labour MP, Tulip Siddiq, who has been campaigning for her freedom, said on Monday that Johnson should seek to “make amends” for his error. | Her local Labour MP, Tulip Siddiq, who has been campaigning for her freedom, said on Monday that Johnson should seek to “make amends” for his error. |
| She told BBC Breakfast: “If the foreign secretary goes to Iran, meets Nazanin, takes Richard and officially retracts the statement he’s made then at least he’s trying to make amends for what he said. If my constituent spends even one more day in prison as a result of what the foreign secretary said, then he should resign.” |