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| Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe tells Boris Johnson to consider the effect of his 'gaffe' on her imprisonment | Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe tells Boris Johnson to consider the effect of his 'gaffe' on her imprisonment |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Boris Johnson has been confronted with the demand of a woman jailed in Iran to imagine what it is like to sit in a foreign prison and watch Iranian TV news bulletins call you a spy every night. | Boris Johnson has been confronted with the demand of a woman jailed in Iran to imagine what it is like to sit in a foreign prison and watch Iranian TV news bulletins call you a spy every night. |
| The plea from Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe came 14 days after a gaffe by the Foreign Secretary was seized upon in Iran to help build a case that the innocent mother-of-one had not been on holiday and had instead been working to engineer the ‘soft overthrow’ of the Iranian government. | The plea from Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe came 14 days after a gaffe by the Foreign Secretary was seized upon in Iran to help build a case that the innocent mother-of-one had not been on holiday and had instead been working to engineer the ‘soft overthrow’ of the Iranian government. |
| Her comment was relayed by her husband Richard Ratcliffe, who emerged from a one-hour meeting with Mr Johnson on Wednesday saying: “I absolutely believe my wife when she says she is on the verge of a nervous breakdown. I am deeply worried about her health.” | Her comment was relayed by her husband Richard Ratcliffe, who emerged from a one-hour meeting with Mr Johnson on Wednesday saying: “I absolutely believe my wife when she says she is on the verge of a nervous breakdown. I am deeply worried about her health.” |
| Mr Ratcliffe, a 42-year-old accountant, said: “Nazanin was there on the evening news again last night, and that’s hugely upsetting for her. | Mr Ratcliffe, a 42-year-old accountant, said: “Nazanin was there on the evening news again last night, and that’s hugely upsetting for her. |
| “That is the one point she wanted to make to the Foreign Secretary: what it’s like to watch yourself being called a spy on TV every night, which has happened only in the last two weeks.” | “That is the one point she wanted to make to the Foreign Secretary: what it’s like to watch yourself being called a spy on TV every night, which has happened only in the last two weeks.” |
| The Iranian media’s intense interest in Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe was sparked when two weeks ago, on November 1, when Mr Johnson told the Foreign Affairs Committee (FAC): “When I look at what Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was doing, she was simply teaching people journalism as I understand it.” | The Iranian media’s intense interest in Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe was sparked when two weeks ago, on November 1, when Mr Johnson told the Foreign Affairs Committee (FAC): “When I look at what Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was doing, she was simply teaching people journalism as I understand it.” |
| This was a complete error, since Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe had been on holiday in Iran and the charity worker has never taught journalists in her life. It was immediately seized upon in Iran to help build a case that Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe had been working to engineer the ‘soft overthrow’ of the Iranian government. | This was a complete error, since Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe had been on holiday in Iran and the charity worker has never taught journalists in her life. It was immediately seized upon in Iran to help build a case that Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe had been working to engineer the ‘soft overthrow’ of the Iranian government. |
| On Saturday Nov 4, the first Iranian working day after Mr Johnson’s gaffe, Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe was taken before hardline judge Abolghassem Salavati, to be told there were new accusations against her, under a new charge of “spreading propaganda against the regime”. | On Saturday Nov 4, the first Iranian working day after Mr Johnson’s gaffe, Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe was taken before hardline judge Abolghassem Salavati, to be told there were new accusations against her, under a new charge of “spreading propaganda against the regime”. |
| Iranian TV news networks started presenting Mr Johnson’s remarks as an accidental confession, and it was feared the new charges would lead to Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe having five years added to the five-year sentence that she is already serving for supposedly threatening Iranian national security. | Iranian TV news networks started presenting Mr Johnson’s remarks as an accidental confession, and it was feared the new charges would lead to Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe having five years added to the five-year sentence that she is already serving for supposedly threatening Iranian national security. |
| It took Mr Johnson 12 days to apologise for his mistake. | It took Mr Johnson 12 days to apologise for his mistake. |
| Mr Ratcliffe said that when he confronted Mr Johnson with his wife’s comment, “He acknowledged the urgency of her situation, and said he was doing all he could to get her home.” | Mr Ratcliffe said that when he confronted Mr Johnson with his wife’s comment, “He acknowledged the urgency of her situation, and said he was doing all he could to get her home.” |
| Mr Ratcliffe, who has called for Mr Johnson to sort out the “mess” caused by his remarks while stopping short of calling for his resignation, added that his wife “hadn’t asked for him to apologise”. | |
| Mr Ratcliffe also revealed that Mr Johnson had been asked about an apparent leak to The Sun which quoted an unnamed minister in a story suggesting that the British Government had been presented with “a multi-million pound shopping list of demands to free Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe.” | Mr Ratcliffe also revealed that Mr Johnson had been asked about an apparent leak to The Sun which quoted an unnamed minister in a story suggesting that the British Government had been presented with “a multi-million pound shopping list of demands to free Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe.” |
| These included that Britain settle a 38 year-old £400m bill after reneging on an arms deal, arranged just before the 1979 overthrow of the Shah, to sell Chieftan tanks to Iran. | |
| Mr Johnson said he had no knowledge of the story or the leak. | Mr Johnson said he had no knowledge of the story or the leak. |
| Mr Ratcliffe has long complained that his wife is being used as a “bargaining chip” by Iran. | Mr Ratcliffe has long complained that his wife is being used as a “bargaining chip” by Iran. |
| While making clear that he wants his wife’s settled on the basis of justice, rather than some quid pro quo bargaining arrangement with Iran, he admitted: “The British Government ought to find a way to honour its legal obligations, in the hope that Iran honours its international obligations.” | |
| The Chieftain tanks arms deal has been the subject of a decades-long court case. Iran paid money up-front for the tanks but after the overthrow of the Shah they were not delivered. | |
| It is understood that the Government is looking into ways to pay Iran, but this has been complicated by sanctions against Iran. | It is understood that the Government is looking into ways to pay Iran, but this has been complicated by sanctions against Iran. |
| During the meeting with Mr Johnson, Mr Ratcliffe, who hopes to join the Foreign Secretary on his forthcoming visit to Iran, again pressed the case that his dual-national wife should be given ‘diplomatic protection’ by the UK Government. | |
| He told reporters that granting his wife diplomatic protection would allow the UK to go beyond consular requests for fair treatment in captivity and instead demand that a British citizen be released. | |
| Mr Ratcliffe said: “Diplomatic protection is the way forward. It changes the nature of the conversation and states that Nazanin has been treated badly because she is British and is entitled to be protected as an extension of the British state.” | |
| Mr Ratcliffe said Mr Johnson “expressed reservations” about this course of action, without outlining what they were. | |
| One potential complication is that Iran tends not to recognise dual nationality and has previously insisted on treating Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe as wholly Iranian. | |
| At about the same time that Mr Ratcliffe was meeting Mr Johnson, Iran’s Irna state news agency was insisting: “As Zaghari has dual British-Iranian citizenship, and Iran doesn’t recognise her British citizenship, the principle [of diplomatic protection] is fundamentally impractical.” | |
| Mr Ratcliffe’s lawyers are expected to meet soon with counterparts from the Foreign Office to discuss the legal ramifications of diplomatic protection. | |
| Mr Ratcliffe accepted that giving his wife diplomatic protection would escalate the situation, but insisted: “I think it would help. It would signal that the way Nazanin is being treated is unacceptable. | |
| “I appreciate it is an escalation, but where softly-softly doesn’t work and where it has been escalated by the past couple of weeks’ events and the Foreign Secretary’s words being used, it is appropriate.” | |
| Mr Johnson told Mr Ratcliffe that he and the Foreign Office were calling for Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe to be released on humanitarian grounds. | |
| Mr Johnson has spoken to his Iranian foreign ministry counterparts about concerns for Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s health, which also include the recent discovery of lumps on her breasts that an Iranian consultant thinks are probably benign, despite her family history of breast cancer. | |
| Mr Ratcliffe said the meeting with Mr Johnson had been “positive”, adding: “He said sorry it had taken so long for us to meet.” |