PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe (22 April 2021)

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assistance his Department is providing to Nazanin Zaghari-Radcliffe since her sentence ended in March 2021; and for what reason a representative from the British Embassy in Iran did not attend her most recent court hearing with her.

Asked by:
Marsha De Cordova (Labour)

Iran's decision to sentence Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe on further charges is totally inhumane and wholly unjustified. This government remains committed to doing all we can to secure Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's return home. We requested access to the 14 March hearing, which was refused - Iran routinely denies our requests to attend the hearings of dual British nationals, because they do not recognise them as dual British nationals.

We continue to raise Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's case at the most senior levels in the Iranian Government and are doing all we can to bring her home as soon as possible. The Foreign Secretary regularly presses Foreign Minister Zarif for her release, most recently on 3 April, and the Prime Minister has raised this with President Rouhani, most recently on 10 March. Our Ambassador in Tehran consistently raises the subject of our detainees with the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, most recently on 27 April.

Answered by:
Mr James Cleverly (Conservative)
28 April 2021