"Her husband, Richard Ratcliffe, held a press conference. He had amassed 780,000 signatures on a petition for her release, and delivered a letter urging the same thing to former PM David Cameron. This, it transpired much later, was after murky meetings with the Foreign Office in which civil servants insisted that the best thing, both for Nazanin's release and the safety of her parents and brother in Iran, was to lay low and let diplomacy take its course."
"It was state hostage-taking, says Joseph Fiennes, who plays Richard Ratcliffe in the BBC's four-part drama Prisoner 951. It clearly goes on, and innocent people and families are completely disrupted and tarred for life. And now I've told this story, I look at anyone that might be accused of something, and I don't quite believe it. After six years, the UK announced that it would repay the 400m Chieftain tank money. She was released that day"
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arrested in Iran in 2016 and detained on spying charges while separated from her two-year-old daughter. Iranian authorities accused her of attempting to overthrow the regime, working for MI6, empowering women and earning money illegally. She worked for the Reuters charitable foundation and was visiting family. Husband Richard Ratcliffe organized a high-profile campaign, gathering 780,000 petition signatures and delivering a letter to former PM David Cameron. UK civil servants advised a low-profile diplomatic approach during murky meetings with the Foreign Office. After six years the UK repaid a 400m Chieftain tank debt and Nazanin was released.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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