Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is an Iranian-British dual citizen who has been detained in Iran since 3 April 2016. In early September 2016, she was sentenced to 5 years’ imprisonment after being found guilty of “plotting to topple the Iranian government”.
In the wake of the COVID Crisis in the country, she was given bail, but she was being monitored continuously. As per report from various news websites she is facing a second set of charges that also imposes a travel ban on her. Many people have sympathized with her on humanitarian grounds as she has been kept away from her family for a long time now.
Table of Contents
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe Bio
| Name | Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe |
| Birth ( Age ) | 1978 (age 43 years) |
| Birth Place | Tehran, Iran |
| Nationalty | British, Iranian |
| Profession | journalist |
| Marital Status | Marries |
| Husband | Richard Ratcliffe (m. 2009) |
| Children | Gabriella Ratcliffe ( Daughter) |
| Siblings | Jason, Josh and Alex |
| Net Worth | NA |
| Last Update | 2023 |
Who is Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe?
Nazanin is a native of Iran. She was educated in Tehran, the capital of Iran, where she was also born. According to reports, Nazanin concluded her entire education in Tehran. She was an English literature student at Tehran University. Later, she pursued the same educational path and became an English teacher. She has served as a translator for the Japan Cooperation Agency and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, among other organizations. She has also worked as a Communications Officer at the World Health Organization.
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe Family, Husband
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is a Married Woman. She married with her husband Richard Ratcliffe (m. 2009). The have a Daughter together name Gabriella Ratcliffe ( Daughter).She has three siblings name Jason, Josh and Alex.
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe Career, Arrest
In 2007, Zaghari-Ratcliffe moved to the united kingdom after receiving a scholarship to review for a Masters in Communication Management at London Metropolitan University. Shortly after her arrival within the UK she met her future husband through mutual friends. They married in August 2009 in Winchester and their daughter was born in June 2014. Zaghari-Ratcliffe would frequently return to Iran enabling her parents to ascertain her daughter. When travelling to Iran she would always do so on her Iranian passport, as needed by Iranian law. Zaghari-Ratcliffe used her British passport for all other international travel.
In 2011, Zaghari-Ratcliffe began performing at the Thomson Reuters Foundation in 2011 as a project coordinator before taking over the role of a project manager.Arrest and trial : On 17 March 2016, Zaghari-Ratcliffe travelled to go to her family for Nowruz (Iranian New Year) together with her 22-month-old daughter.
On 3 April 2016, members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard arrested her at the Imam Khomeini Airport as she and her daughter were close to board a flight back to the united kingdom . Her daughter’s British passport was confiscated during the arrest, but later returned, and she or he remained in Iran under the care of her maternal grandparents so she could visit her mother.
The exact reason for her arrest was initially unclear, though consistent with Amnesty International it’s believed to be associated with the 2014 imprisonment of several Iranian technology news website employees.Zaghari-Ratcliffe has worked for the BBC World Service Trust (now called BBC Media Action), a world charity that provided training courses to Iranian citizen journalists and bloggers in its Iran Media Development Project’s ZigZag magazine and associated radio programme. In 2014, several graduates were convicted and sentenced by Iran to up to 11 years in jail for his or her participation in these courses.
According to Yadollah Movahed, the top of the Department of Justice within the Iranian city of Kerman, and as reported by the Iranian news network Press TV, Nazanin was arrested “over her involvement in post-election riots that engulfed Tehran and a few other cities in 2009”. Movahed said Zaghari was among the suspects who “conducted activities against the safety of the country by designing websites and completing campaigns within the media” during 2009.
According to Press TV in June 2016, “The IRGC headquarters in Kerman province announced that Nazanin Zaghari had been identified after an outsized intelligence . She was one among the liaison officers of networks hostile to Iran abroad. consistent with this source, she was liable for several missions, and conducted her criminal activities under the direction of media and intelligence services of foreign governments.”
In early September 2016, she was sentenced to 5 years in prison “for allegedly plotting to topple the Iranian regime.” The prosecutor general of Tehran stated in October 2017 that she was imprisoned for running “…a BBC Persian online journalism course which was aimed toward recruiting and training people to spread propaganda against Iran”. Press TV in 2017 reported she had been “found guilty of spying and spreading propaganda against the Islamic Republic”, describing the activities involved as her BBC World Service Trust work.
Imprisonment
On 23 August 2018, Zaghari-Ratcliffe was released on temporary licence for 3 days, which is standard practice before lengthier releases. However, Zaghari-Ratcliffe suffered from panic attacks after returning to prison, and regretted having been given the temporary release. Her husband said the temporary licence was a “cruel game” subject to conditions including the monitoring of her movements.
In March 2019, British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) granted Zaghari-Ratcliffe diplomatic protection, raising the status of her case from a consular interest a dispute between the 2 governments. Iran argues the designation is contrary to law of nations , the Master Nationality Rule, with Iran’s ambassador in London stating “Governments may only exercise such protection for own nationals, … Iran doesn’t recognise dual nationality”. On 11 October 2019, Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s daughter returned to her father within the uk to start out school. In December 2019, the prosecutor general of Iran denied conditional release for Nazanin Zaghari, which was requested by her lawyer.
At the peak of COVID-19 pandemic in Iran in March 2020, Zaghari-Ratcliffe was released on a short lived basis.She lived at her parents’ house in Tehran, and must wear an electronic tag and remain within 300 metres of the house. She is in a position to form video involves several hours each day to her husband and daughter.Her parole was extended until 18 April. Her release was again extended in April, to twenty May consistent with her husband. Her family said on May 20 that her release had been extended indefinitely.
On 8 September 2020, Iranian state media said that Zaghari-Ratcliffe was facing new charges. On 13 September, her trial was postponed. it had been scheduled for two November in October.No British officials were allowed to watch it despite repeated requests.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s sentence ended on 7 March 2021.The day before, Nazanin’s husband, Richard Ratcliffe expressed that he and his daughter were waiting “very anxiously” for the discharge . He also said that they weren’t sure if she’d be released, as “the arrangements haven’t been clarified”.She was freed as scheduled but with a replacement court case against her booked for 14 March.On that date she appeared on charges of propaganda against the regime and was told to expect a verdict within seven working days.
On 26 April, she was found guilty of propaganda activities against the govt and sentenced to at least one year in prison, and banned from leaving Iran for a year. Her lawyer said that she had been accused of participating during a demonstration in London 12 years ago, and giving an interview to the BBC Persian service.
Release campaign
On 7 May 2016, Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s husband Richard Ratcliffe launched a web petition urging both the Prime Minister of the uk and Iran’s supreme leader to require appropriate action to secure the safe return of his wife and daughter. The petition now has over 3.5 million supporters in 155 countries.
Through his lawyers, Richard Ratcliffe has pressed for any settlement of the IMS deal to be paid to an entity aside from the Iranian Government’s defence ministry, alternatively that the dispute be settled in humanitarian aide instead of cash, thereby circumventing EU sanctions.24th April 2019, the Iranian secretary of state Mohammad Javad Zarif suggested a politician swap between Nazanin, and Negar Ghodskani, an Iranian citizen being held in Australia on a U.S. extradition warrant.
Release campaign : On 7 May 2016, Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s husband Richard Ratcliffe launched a web petition urging both the Prime Minister of the uk and Iran’s supreme leader to require appropriate action to secure the safe return of his wife and daughter. The petition now has over 3.5 million supporters in 155 countries.
Through his lawyers, Richard Ratcliffe has pressed for any settlement of the IMS deal to be paid to an entity aside from the Iranian Government’s defence ministry, alternatively that the dispute be settled in humanitarian aide instead of cash, thereby circumventing EU sanctions.24th April 2019, the Iranian secretary of state Mohammad Javad Zarif suggested a politician swap between Nazanin, and Negar Ghodskani, an Iranian citizen being held in Australia on a U.S. extradition warrant.
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe sentenced to a year in Iran prison : Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been sentenced to an extra year in prison and a one-year travel ban after being found guilty of propaganda against the regime in Iran. Her lawyer said she was accused of participating during a protest in London 12 years ago and chatting with the BBC Persian service.The prime minister said the united kingdom would “redouble” efforts to free her.The British-Iranian charity worker was first jailed in Tehran in 2016.She has always denied the spying charges levelled against her.
Read Also : Iggy Azalea
Confirming the newest sentence, her husband, Richard Ratcliffe, said the court’s decision was a nasty sign and “clearly a negotiating tactic” by the Iranian authorities – who are within the middle of discussions over the country’s nuclear activities.
