Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has joined more than 100 Iranians living in the UK who have urged Sir Keir Starmer not to get drawn further into the Iran conflict, warning that the war would strengthen the regime in Tehran.
The letter, which has also been signed by two of Iran’s former political prisoners, warns that “attacking the country in this way” will “entrench the authoritarians”.
It sets out a number of peaceful steps to help the internal opposition in Iran, such as providing Starlink internet services to end the continued communications blackout inside the country.
It comes after Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 86, was killed by Israeli airstrikes earlier this month and was succeeded by one of his sons, Mojtaba Khamenei, who was appointed on Monday.
The letter, seen by The Guardian, reads: “Nobody can claim to want the end of the Islamic republic more than we do. But attacking the country in this way will have the opposite effect.
“It will entrench the authoritarians and give life to the fiction that has sustained them internally for decades: that they are fighting western imperialism.
“When Netanyahu – a man charged with international war crimes after killing countless civilians in Gaza – assassinates Iran’s dictator, that kills the man but immortalises the myth. Iranians wanted him tried and punished for his crimes, not given the martyr-ending he craved.”
British-Iranian national Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe was jailed on false espionage charges in 2016 after being arrested during a visit to her family in Iran with her young daughter, Gabriella.
Her husband Richard Ratcliffe led a long campaign to raise awareness of her arrest and force the UK to attempt to strike a deal with Iran. They both took part in hunger strikes, including one by Mr Ratcliffe outside the Foreign Office.
The letter was also signed by Aras Amiri, a former British Council worker kept in Evin prison in Tehran for three years, and Nasrin Parvaz, who spent eight years imprisoned in Iran from 1982.
It was also signed by a number of high-profile artists, academics and writers within the Iranian community.
It reads: “A pro-democracy policy would protect political prisoners and ensure that Israel and the US do not bomb prisons like Evin. It is in those cells where the future democratic leaders of Iran reside.
“A pro-democracy policy would smuggle internet devices – not weapons – across the border, and break the blackout that is blanketing the country.
“A pro-democracy policy would call out Israel’s assassination policy even when it targets leaders we despise. There is so much that can be done in solidarity with Iranians. But joining in with Netanyahu’s forever wars is not it.”
The signatories of the letter said they are “overcome with grief. For decades, we have been hoping for the day when Iranian democracy can finally flourish. Many of us have not been able to visit Iran for years for fear of imprisonment or worse.”
Sir Keir initially refused permission to help the US with the first wave of military action against Iran, but later granted permission for “defensive” US action against Iranian missile sites from UK bases.
On Tuesday night, UK foreign secretary Yvette Cooper emphasised “close coordination” on Middle Eastern security in a call with her US counterpart as Washington threatened its “most intense day” of strikes on Iran.
Ms Cooper’s conversation with US secretary of state Marco Rubio came after American B1 bombers were seen taking off from RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire and explosions were reported in Tehran.
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