Nazanin Zaghari's Husband Urges Britain to Increase Pressure for Her Release

The husband of Nazanin Zaghari, an Iranian-British citizen who has been detained in Iran on charges of 'subversion' and collaborating with 'opponents' for some time, called on the British government on Thursday to take further action for her release. At the same time, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention announced that Ms. Zaghari's detention violates international law. According to the Associated Press, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who works at the Thomson Reuters Foundation, was sentenced last month to five years in prison for participating in anti-government protests in 2009 in Iran, although her specific crimes have not been disclosed. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention stated in a statement on Thursday that the arrest and imprisonment of Ms. Zaghari violates several principles of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The committee stated, 'Considering all aspects of this case, particularly the risk of physical and psychological harm to Ms. Zaghari and the health of her child, the committee believes that the proper way to handle this case is her immediate release.' The committee also noted that Ms. Zaghari has been discriminated against and imprisoned due to her dual nationality, which the Iranian government does not recognize. Nazanin Zaghari was arrested on April 3 at the end of a trip to Iran to visit her family, along with her two-year-old daughter named Gabriella. Her daughter remains in Iran, and Ms. Zaghari's parents are taking care of her. Richard Ratcliffe, Ms. Zaghari's husband, welcomed the UN Working Group's ruling, describing it as 'very important,' and urged the British government to increase efforts for his wife's release. He expressed concern at a press conference in London that the Iranian government wants to use his wife's detention as a political hostage and criticized the British government's inaction. He stated, 'It seems her detention is an excuse for a political dispute. I believe the British government is trying to avoid responding to this dispute and is caught between factions of the Iranian government that favor normalizing relations and another faction that wants to prevent normalization. The silence of the British government is quite evident.' Mr. Ratcliffe mentioned that he spoke with his wife on Tuesday, and she expressed her anger at how the British government has handled the situation. Ms. Zaghari told her husband that it is surprising that the Canadian government was able to secure the release of her cellmate, Homa Hoodfar, while she remains imprisoned. The British Foreign Secretary and Prime Minister Theresa May have expressed concern over Ms. Zaghari's detention, but neither has directly criticized the Iranian government. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has accused Nazanin Zaghari of participating in widespread anti-government protests in 2009, which were held in response to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's victory in the presidential election. Gabriella's British passport has been confiscated, preventing her from leaving Iran, and Ms. Zaghari's parents are caring for her. Last month, the governments of Iran and Britain reopened their embassies in each other's countries following the exchange of ambassadors. The British embassy in Tehran had been closed since 2011 after being attacked. The enhancement of diplomatic relations between the two countries is part of the consequences of last year's nuclear agreement between Iran and the international community.