Nazanin Zaghari's Husband Hopeful for Her Release After British Official's Visit to Tehran

The husband of Nazanin Zaghari, an Iranian-British citizen imprisoned in Evin, expressed hope for her release and reported an imminent discussion between a senior British official and Iranian authorities regarding the cases of imprisoned citizens. Alistair Burt, a member of the Conservative Party and a senior official in the UK Foreign Office during Theresa May's government, is among the foreign guests at Hassan Rouhani's inauguration ceremony on Saturday, August 5. Concurrently with Mr. Burt's trip to Tehran for this ceremony, Ms. Zaghari's family warned him that her imprisonment, which has deprived her of seeing her young child, has had detrimental physical and mental effects on her. According to several local websites in the UK, Alistair Burt is set to negotiate with senior Iranian officials regarding the cases of British citizens imprisoned in Iran. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, Kamal Foroughi, and Roya Nobakht are among the dual nationals imprisoned in Iran for primarily security reasons and espionage charges. Ms. Zaghari, 38, was arrested in the spring of 2016 while leaving Iran at Tehran Airport and was eventually sentenced to five years in prison after months of detention without trial. The family of Kamal Foroughi, a 77-year-old Iranian-British prisoner, also expressed concern about his situation in Evin prison, reminding that he began his seventh year of imprisonment on May 15. According to the Telegraph newspaper in the UK, Kamal Foroughi, an oil and gas advisor, was arrested in 2011 and two years later sentenced to an indeterminate prison term for espionage and possession of alcohol. The name of Ms. Roya Saberi Nobakht, an Iranian-British citizen, also came up in a case in 2015 that was referred to in Persian-language media as the Facebook activists' case. She was sentenced to five years in prison that same year. Richard Ratcliffe, Ms. Zaghari's husband, has asked Alistair Burt to remind Iranian officials of her innocence during his visit to Tehran. On the other hand, Ms. Zaghari's family warned Mr. Burt in their message: 'The unsuitable conditions of solitary confinement have harmed her physical health.' In this context, Alistair Burt had emphasized less than three weeks ago in a meeting in London that the UK government is 'determined to seek answers from the Iranian government regarding dual nationals.' Mr. Burt also described the human rights situation in Iran as 'dire' during that meeting. Meanwhile, the human rights organization Amnesty International also issued a statement on Friday urging the European Union representative visiting Tehran to call for the release of all human rights activists imprisoned in Iran. Ms. Mogherini is scheduled to attend Hassan Rouhani's inauguration ceremony in the Iranian Parliament on Saturday, and as her office announced last week, she will also have meetings with Iranian officials regarding the JCPOA and other mutual issues.