British Prime Minister Expresses Concern Over Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe's Situation in Meeting with Rouhani

A British government official stated on Tuesday that Theresa May, the Prime Minister of the UK, expressed concern about the situation of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe in prison during her meeting with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in New York. The family of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe announced on September 10 that this British-Iranian citizen has been sentenced to five years in prison. Ms. Zaghari-Ratcliffe was working for the Thomson Reuters Foundation, which is a charitable and independent organization from Reuters news agency. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian citizen, was arrested on April 3 this year at Tehran Airport while attempting to leave Iran with her young child. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which detained her, labeled her as a "subversive." The official charges against this Iranian-British citizen have not yet been disclosed. According to Reuters, the British official stated that Ms. Theresa May raised various issues, including the case of Ms. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, during her meeting with Mr. Rouhani. She added that the British Prime Minister inquired about the status of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe following the announcement of her five-year sentence. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who is 37 years old, first appeared in court on July 31. Ms. Zaghari has been separated from her two-year-old daughter Gabriella, who is currently under the care of her grandparents. In recent months, the Iranian judiciary and the Revolutionary Guard have detained several Iranian citizens with dual American, British, Canadian, and French citizenship on various charges, including espionage or collaboration with hostile governments. Monika Villa, the head of the Thomson Reuters Foundation, strongly condemned the ruling against Nazanin Zaghari and called for her release. Hassan Rouhani arrived in New York on Tuesday, September 30, after meeting with Fidel Castro, the leader of the Cuban Revolution, and Raul Castro, the President of Cuba, to attend the United Nations General Assembly. According to the state news agency IRNA, Mr. Rouhani arrived in Cuba on Monday afternoon and met with Fidel Castro without the presence of journalists. According to a report from the Iranian presidency's office, Hassan Rouhani referred to Iran and Cuba as "symbols of resistance against the most severe sanctions" and added, "The Cuban revolution faced the most severe economic sanctions from the United States, and the Iranian nation also stood firm during eight years of imposed war while both East and West supported the aggressor." Fidel Castro, who is 90 years old, led the Cuban revolution in 1959 and served as the country's president for 32 years, but for the past eight years, his brother Raul Castro has held this position. Former Iranian presidents Mohammad Khatami and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also visited Cuba and met with Fidel Castro. Fidel Castro visited Tehran in 2001 during Mohammad Khatami's presidency. After Hassan Rouhani's meeting with Fidel Castro, a joint meeting of the two countries' presidents was held on Monday afternoon local time (early Tuesday Tehran time), where the Iranian president called for increased economic cooperation between the two countries. Hassan Rouhani also pointed to the "common positions" of Iran and Cuba on regional and international issues, stating, "Some powers are trying to sell their weapons by exacerbating regional conflicts, which in turn affects and harms the global economy." During this meeting, a cooperation document in the health sector was also signed between the two countries. In recent years, the Cuban government has improved its relations with the United States. Among these developments, the first historic commercial flight between the U.S. and Cuba after half a century landed in Santa Clara, Cuba, on Wednesday, September 1, paving the way for normal air connections between the two countries since the Cold War. Before traveling to Cuba, the Iranian president had traveled to Venezuela on Friday morning to attend the 17th summit of the Non-Aligned Movement. The 17th summit of the Non-Aligned Movement was held on Saturday on Margarita Island in Venezuela, during which the presidency of the Non-Aligned Movement was transferred from Iran to Venezuela. Only eight of the 120 member countries' leaders attended this summit. In the last summit of the Non-Aligned Movement held in Tehran, 35 leaders of member countries participated. In recent years, Iran has provided financial assistance to some Latin American countries, including trade agreements and financial aid granted during Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidency to Nicaragua, Cuba, and Venezuela. The Iranian president traveled to New York on Tuesday to attend the United Nations General Assembly. Hassan Rouhani has participated in the UN General Assembly during his three-year presidency and has met with several country leaders, including Francois Hollande, the President of France, and David Cameron, the Prime Minister of the UK. In 2013, at the end of Mr. Rouhani's trip to New York, the presidents of Iran and the U.S. spoke on the phone for the first time since the severance of relations between the two countries in 1979.