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Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the British-Iranian woman sentenced to five years in prison in Iran in 2016, has been told that she will be tried on new charges next Monday.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who was released under house arrest in March due to the coronavirus outbreak, was also told that she would return to Evin Prison after the hearing.
The move comes a day after it emerged that a hearing in a UK court on a debt to Iran had been postponed for six months. It was scheduled to start on November 3.
Both countries formally deny that there is any connection between the debt case and the holding of dual British-Iranian citizens in Tehran prisons, but officials privately acknowledge that the two issues have been linked. British sources said the postponement was sought by the Iranian legal team, but that has not been confirmed.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been told that he will face Abolqasem Salavati, a hard-line judge who has been the subject of sanctions by the EU and the United States.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s five-year sentence is set to expire next spring, but the new charges open up the possibility of more years in jail.
Arrest in Tehran
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is arrested at Imam Khomeini Airport as she tries to return to Britain after a holiday visiting her family with her daughter, Gabriella.
Hunger strike
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s health is deteriorating after spending several days on a hunger strike to protest his imprisonment.
Boris Johnson intervenes
Boris Johnson, then Secretary of Foreign Affairs, tells a select parliamentary committee “When we look at what [she] she was doing, she was just teaching journalism to people. “Four days after her comments, Zaghari-Ratcliffe returns to court, where her statement is cited as evidence against her. Her employers, the Thomson Reuters Foundation, deny that she has Trained journalists, and her family maintain that she was in Iran on vacation. Johnson is finally forced to apologize for the “heartbreak and anguish” her comments cause in the family.
Health concerns
Her husband reveals that Zaghari-Ratcliffe fears for her health after lumps were found in her breasts that required an ultrasound, and that she was now “on the verge of a nervous breakdown.”
Temporary release
He is granted a temporary release of three days.
Hunger strike
Zaghari-Ratcliffe is on hunger strike again, protesting the withdrawal of her medical care.
Diplomatic protection
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt takes the unusual step of granting him diplomatic protection, a move that elevates his case from consular matter to the level of a dispute between the two states.
Travel warning
The UK updates its travel recommendations for dual British-Iranian citizens, and for the first time advises against all travel to Iran. The council also urges Iranian citizens living in the UK to exercise caution if they decide to travel to Iran.
Hunger strike in London
Richard Ratcliffe joins his wife in a new hunger strike campaign. He fasts in front of the Iranian embassy in London as she begins a third hunger strike protest in prison.
Hunger strike ends
Zaghari-Ratcliffe ends her hunger strike with breakfast. Her husband also ends his strike in front of the embassy.
Transferred to the mental health ward
According to her husband, Zaghari-Ratcliffe was transferred from Evin prison to the mental ward of Imam Khomeini hospital, where the Iranian Revolutionary Guard has prevented her relatives from contacting her.
Daughter returns to London
Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s five-year-old daughter Gabriella, who has lived with her grandparents in Tehran and regularly visited her mother in prison for the past three years, returns to London to start school.
Temporary release
Amid the threat of the coronavirus pandemic, he is temporarily released from prison, but will be asked to wear an ankle brace and not move more than 300 meters from his parents’ home.
New charges
Iranian state media reports that he will appear in court to face new and unspecified charges. Ultimately, a court appearance over the weekend on a new charge of propaganda against the state that could leave her incarcerated for another 10 years is postponed without notice, leading Zaghari-Ratcliffe to say, “People don’t You must underestimate the level of stress. Let me calm down. You don’t understand how it is. Nothing is calm. “
Return to prison threatened
Zaghari-Ratcliffe is told that she will be tried on new charges and will return to prison after the hearing.
On Tuesday, her husband, Richard Ratcliffe, spoke with UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab and called on the UK to assert his right to consular access so that British officials could attend the retrial and visit his wife.
Iran does not recognize dual citizenship. Raab assured Ratcliffe that the UK’s diplomatic push was ongoing and that the government did not judge it was time to change strategy.
Ratcliffe said: “We did not agree on this. The seclusion of the victim, with episodes of notorious cruelty in the face of decisions to wait, are fundamental pillars of hostage-taking. Both must be vigorously challenged if British citizens are to be protected from hostage diplomacy by Iran or others. “
He added: “I think if she’s not home for Christmas, chances are high that this will last for years. So I really hope there is something they don’t tell us, as at first glance the government’s response seems disastrous.[It’s] simply extraordinary that they will not change course. “
Ratcliffe said a subpoena was served on his wife by “two very large IRGCs [Revolutionary Guards] guards who arrived at their parents’ doorstep. They told him that he should pack a bag with her by Monday and that he should make sure to bring all his clothes and necessary medicines, as he will go back to jail after his court appearance. “
Tulip Siddiq, MP for Hampstead and Kilburn, where Zaghari-Ratcliffe lives, said: “Once again, Nazanin has been treated with utter contempt and I am deeply concerned for her future and well-being. The fact that you have been told to pack a suitcase to go to prison before your court hearing does not fill me with confidence that this will be anything like a fair trial.
“The timing of this development coupled with the postponement of the court hearing on the UK’s historic debt to Iran raises serious concerns. I can only hope that work is being done behind the scenes to resolve the debt quickly because it seems like we are going in the completely wrong direction and Nazanin, as always, is paying the price. The Foreign Secretary must enforce the UK’s right to consular access and ensure that UK officials are present at Nazanin’s trial. “
