Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe: Husband in uncharted territory on hunger strike

Richard Ratcliffe said he feels and looks rougher on the 16th day of his hunger strike

The husband of Iranian detainee Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has said he is entering "uncharted territory" on the 16th day of his hunger strike outside the Foreign Office.

Richard Ratcliffe, began protesting to put pressure on Boris Johnson to meet Iranian delegates at COP 26 to demand freedom for Britons detained in Iran.

He was joined on Monday by Claudia Winkleman and Victoria Coren-Mitchell.

The Foreign Office said: "We are doing all we can to help Nazanin get home."

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian dual national, has been in custody in Iran since 2016 after being accused of plotting to overthrow the government.

She had been taking the couple's daughter, Gabriella, to see her family when she was arrested.

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe was sentenced to five years in jail shortly afterwards, spending four years in Evin prison in Tehran and one under house arrest.

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Mr Ratcliffe had previously completed a 15-day hunger strike, and said he now does not know what the future days hold.

He said: "I have physically seen the effects, and have got very cold hands and feet. Over the weekend, I saw a bit of a plateau and then on Friday evening, crashed and burned.

"We are now into uncharted territory.

"I'm definitely looking rougher and feeling rougher. I don't feel hungry but I do feel the cold more."

"It's a short-term tactic. You can't take it too long or you end up in a coma."

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe after she was released from house arrest in Tehran in March 2021

Writer and presenter Mrs Coren-Mitchell said she wanted to support Mr Ratcliffe, who she said "might be the most amazing husband and father ever seen".

"They're a normal family that a terrible thing's happened to," she said.

"Nazanin is a totally innocent woman who needs to come home to her family. Their ongoing torment is a major failure of British diplomacy in its core responsibility - to protect its citizens.

"He doesn't have any power, and he wants the people with power to help him, but he is doing everything he can. I wanted to come as a friend and support him."

Mr Ratcliffe was joined by Victoria Coren-Mitchell and Claudia Winkleman

Mr Ratcliffe said he doesn't "have any confidence" in the government's plans to free his wife.

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, from Hampstead, north London, won't be freed until £400m owed to Iran for failing to deliver tanks in the 1970s is paid.

"Nazanin is held over some debt that the British Government owes the Iranians," he said.

"She's not going to come home until it gets paid, so that needs to be sorted and they also need to be a lot tougher with Iran on using innocent people as hostages."

A Foreign Office spokesperson said: "Iran's decision to proceed with these baseless charges against Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is an appalling continuation of the cruel ordeal she is going through.

"Instead of threatening to return Nazanin to prison, Iran must release her permanently so she can return home.

"We are doing all we can to help Nazanin get home to her young daughter and family and we will continue to press Iran on this point."