Iranian authorities condemned over exceptionally cruel treatment of jailed British woman

Iranian authorities have been condemned over their cruel treatment of jailed British charity worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who has suffered panic attacks in prison and collapsed this week.

Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been experiencing the attacks since she was forced to return to Tehran’s Evin Prison on Sunday after a three-day release, which allowed her to spend time with her young daughter.

On Wednesday she collapsed and was taken to the clinic in the prison, which does not have adequate specialist medical facilities to treat her.

During the panic attacks, she experienced low blood pressure, strong headaches, a rash affecting her entire body, and numbness in her legs and her right arm.

Her family has put in a request to the Prosecutor’s Office in the prison that she be allowed to go to an external hospital so that she can receive the specialised medical care she needs.

Kate Allen, Amnesty International UK’s director, said: “What the Iranian authorities are doing to Nazanin is exceptionally cruel.

“Not only have they deprived her of her due process rights by locking her up for months in solitary confinement without access to a lawyer and subjecting her to a grossly unfair trial, but they’ve torn her away yet again from her daughter’s arms, subjecting them both to severe mental anguish and trauma.

“Nazanin must immediately be given access to the specialised medical care she needs. Beyond that, she is a prisoner of conscience who has been unjustly jailed and must be released immediately and unconditionally.

“The sooner she is released and is able to travel back to the UK with her young daughter Gabriella, the better.

“After the crushing disappointment of being sent back to prison following her furlough release, it’s now all the more imperative that Jeremy Hunt and fellow ministers accelerate all efforts to secure Nazanin’s release.”