The first time I heard about Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s case in 2016, I was in my living room with Richard Ratcliffe and Jeremy Corbyn while breastfeeding my newborn. Aside from feeling utterly sorry for this softly spoken accountant, a constituent of mine, I remember being apprehensive about Richard’s determined plans to go public about his family’s plight.
In his typically calm manner, he told me the Foreign Office (FCDO) had strongly advised him to stay quiet, as had lawyers he had consulted. Yet he was dismayed the FCDO hadn’t been able to locate or even communicate with Nazanin in 30 days. The officials simply seemed pleased that Iran wasn’t denying her existence, he told me in disbelief.
