Start of a Three-Day Hunger Strike by Narges Mohammadi and Nazanin Zaghari

Nazanin Zaghari and Narges Mohammadi began their three-day hunger strike on Tuesday. Meanwhile, it has been reported that Jeremy Hunt, the British Foreign Secretary, summoned Hamid Baeidinejad, Iran's ambassador to London, in protest of Ms. Zaghari's situation. Concurrently with the start of this hunger strike, Richard Ratcliffe, Nazanin Zaghari's husband, Monique Villa, director of the Thomson Reuters Foundation, and Shirin Ebadi, the Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate, answered reporters' questions at a press conference. Shirin Ebadi described the Iranian government's actions regarding Nazanin Zaghari's detention and linking this issue to Iran's debt to Britain as akin to the actions of 'pirates.' Previously, the Iranian Foreign Ministry stated that Ms. Zaghari's case 'has nothing to do with Britain's debt to Iran.' Richard Ratcliffe also mentioned at the press conference that security forces had suggested to his wife that she could spy for the Islamic Republic in exchange for her freedom in Britain. Narges Mohammadi and Nazanin Zaghari Ratcliffe, political prisoners, had previously announced in a joint letter that they would go on a three-day hunger strike in protest of the handling of their medical conditions in prison. These two political prisoners claim that a trusted prison doctor had issued a written report stating that they should be treated urgently at medical centers, but prison officials have prevented this for unknown reasons. Nazanin Zaghari's lawyer stated last month: 'Given my client's illness, we have requested her transfer to a hospital for medical care, and we are now waiting for the prison's approval for her transfer to the hospital.' According to the Associated Press, Monique Villa expressed on Tuesday that she is 'truly concerned' about Nazanin Zaghari's situation and health. She stated in a press release that Ms. Zaghari has not received serious medical care since the discovery of a lump in her breast, calling it 'a slow and cruel torture, another injustice inflicted upon her.' Narges Mohammadi, a human rights activist sentenced to 16 years in prison, suffers from pulmonary embolism and muscular paralysis and has been hospitalized multiple times before. Taghi Rahmani, Narges Mohammadi's husband, reported on Friday that the authorities at Evin Prison in Tehran have punished his wife for her stances and have prevented her from contacting their children for the past two weeks. A tweet from a veteran BBC journalist describes Nazanin Zaghari's imprisonment as 'hostage-taking.' The British Foreign Secretary retweeted this message. In this context, the 'deprivation' of Narges Mohammadi's phone contact with her children for two consecutive weeks has been noted. Iran has described the British Foreign Secretary's statements about Nazanin Zaghari as 'interventionist.' The British Foreign Secretary stated: 'Nazanin Zaghari is innocent; let her return home.' Nazanin Zaghari and Narges Mohammadi are 'on hunger strike.' Britain claims that Iran has taken Nazanin Zaghari hostage for diplomatic pressure.