Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe's health deteriorates ahead of Iran prison hunger strike

Concerns have been raised about the reportedly deteriorating health of British-Iranian detainee Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe ahead of her 3-day hunger strike.

MENA

2 min read

The New Arab & agencies

14 January, 2019

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is serving a five-year sentence for sedition [Getty]

The head of charity the Thomson Reuters Foundation said Monday she's "sincerely worried" about a detained British-Iranian employee of the charity due to begin a hunger strike to protest her detention in Iran.

Monique Villa said in a statement that Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe's "health is already at its poorest" and that she hasn't received access to serious medical care after discovering lumps in her breasts.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who worked for the charity arm of Thomson Reuters, is set to begin a three-day hunger strike on Monday. She will be joined by famed imprisoned Iranian human rights activists Narges Mohammadi.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arrested at Tehran airport on 3 April 2016. Iranian authorities accuse her of plotting against the government. Her family denies this, saying she was in Iran to visit family.

She is serving a five-year jail sentence for sedition but has denied all charges filed against her.

In August, her family said she was rushed to hospital after being found unconscious in her prison cell.

According to The Guardian, Zaghari-Ratcliffe's husband, Richard, confirmed she had a panic attack– the second time in a week.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe had spent time with her family for three days after being released temporarily from detention in August, but was then returned to jail, dashing her family's hopes of an extension.

The temporary release allowed Zaghari-Ratcliffe to be briefly reunited with her daughter before being forced to part once more, in a move that her husband Richard Ratcliffe said was hugely traumatic for both mother and daughter.