HUNGER strike is the “last resort” for cancer-fear Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe as she struggles to access healthcare while imprisoned in Iran, her husband says.
The British-Iranian charity worker was arrested at the airport after visiting family in April 2016.
She was given a five year jail term for spying, a charge she and her London-based husband Richard Ratcliffe deny.
Now, as she prepares to begin a hunger strike over being denied health checks, her husband has expressed surprise about the severity of the situation.
Ratcliffe, who was educated at Edinburgh University, says his wife – who turned 40 on Boxing Day – has suffered a catalogue of mental and physical health complaints since her arrest.
He told reporters she had been barred from checks for lumps in her breasts, neurological care for neck pain and limb numbness and also psychiatric support.
Ratcliffe said her requests for treatment were being blocked “despite having been approved by the prison doctor”. He stated: “I think it’s a real last resort step, and I did not think we were at last resorts just yet.”
The father, who brought a show about his wife’s plight to the Edinburgh Fringe in 2017, added: “I have been campaigning for a long time and we will continue campaigning, but I can’t sit back and tell her that it’s worked because she’s still in prison.”
Zaghari-Ratcliffe will embark on a three-day hunger strike with fellow prisoner Narges Mohammadi, an Iranian human rights defender. They have warned they will continue to refuse food if they are not granted the specialist care they seek, warning Iran’s authorities will be held responsible for the potential consequences.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s detention now spans more than 100 days and Home Secretary Jeremy Hunt has expressed support for the family, tweeting: “Nazanin is innocent and must be allowed to come home.
“How can the Iranian authorities allow an innocent mother to feel she needs to resort to this, simply for justice and access to medical care?”
Zaghari-Ratcliffe and her husband – whose four-year-old daughter Gabriella is in the care of her grandparents – are scheduled to speak tomorrow.
Meanwhile, Ratcliffe has requested an urgent meeting with Iran’s UK ambassador.
The couple’s MP Tulip Siddiq tweeted: “Nazanin has again been driven to despair because of the hopelessness of her plight. The cruelty of her captors + our Government’s failure to secure release means her life is at risk. What is the PM’s plan to bring her home? Quiet diplomacy has failed.”
Meanwhile, Ellie Kennedy of Amnesty International UK, said: “It should obviously never have come to this. The Iranian authorities are entirely responsible for pushing these two unfairly-detained people to take such desperate measures.”
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