Family of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe call on UK ambassador to urgently visit her before furlough ends

The family of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe have called on Dominic Raab to order Britain’s ambassador to Iran to visit her on furlough amid growing fears that Iranian authorities plan to return her to prison.

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who has been living at her parents’ home in Tehran since being granted temporary release in March, will have to return to prison on Wednesday if her furlough is not extended.

She telephoned the Tehran prosecutor’s office to ask for information on her furlough on Saturday, but was told to call back on Wednesday - the day her furlough expires.

The family had previously hoped that the furlough could herald an easing of tensions around her case that would eventually lead to release.

They say that the Foreign & Commonwealth Office has refused their requests for an ambassadorial visit during her temporary release, despite extending her special diplomatic protection more than a year ago.

Her husband Richard Ratcliffe said he had called on Mr Raab, the foreign secretary, to make a personal decision about whether Rob Macaire, the UK’s ambassador in Tehran, should visit her at home in a signal of solidarity.

“This seems like brinksmanship. I fear an escalation for sure,” said Mr Ratcliffe. “Nazanin’s return [to prison] is the next step. Next step [after that] will be someone else getting convicted,” he added.

The Foreign and Commonwealth office granted Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe diplomatic protection in March 2019, a status that formally escalated the case from a consular matter to a dispute between Britain and Iran.

An FCO spokesperson said: "We are in contact with Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe and her family and will continue to make decisions in line with what we believe will produce the best outcome.”

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, an Iranian-British mother of one from Hampstead, was arrested at Tehran airport in 2016 as she prepared to fly home after a holiday with her parents. She was jailed for five years for plotting to overthrow the government, a charge she denies.

She was released from prison on temporary furlough in March as part of Iran’s efforts to combat the spread of Covid-19 in its prison system. Her furlough was extended for another month in April.

She is obliged to wear an electronic tag and banned from travelling more than 300 metres from her parents home.