UK Edition
British mother, Nazanin Ratcliffe, held prisoner in Iran 'allowed to see daughter and parents'
The British mother held prisoner in Iran has been allowed to see her parents and her infant daughter for the first time since her arrest.
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 37, was allowed out of solitary confinement for over two hours on Wednesday.
She was taken from prison to a hotel in the city of Kerman, 600 miles south-east of Tehran, where she was permitted to have lunch with her parents and see her daughter, Gabriella, who is 22 months old.
Mrs Ratcliffe’s British husband, Richard, said that he was “grateful to the Iranian authorities” for the visit. He added that Mrs Ratcliffe was “able to hold and play with Gabriella for a visit of more than two hours".
Gabriella was given a doll by the authorities. "They had a chance where they could have lunch together and where Nazanin could play with Gabriella," said Mr Ratcliffe.
Mrs Ratcliffe, who holds dual British-Iranian nationality, was arrested at Imam Khomeini International Airport on April 3 while trying to leave the country after visiting her parents in Tehran.
She was separated from Gabriella, transported to an unnamed prison in Kerman province and placed in solitary confinement.
Mrs Ratcliffe, who has lived in Britain since 2007, works as a programme manager for the Thomson-Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of the news agency.
Mr Ratcliffe, a 41-year-old accountant from Fleet in Hampshire, chose to publicise his wife’s plight on the 37th day of her incarceration.
On Monday, the authorities promised Mrs Ratcliffe’s parents that they would be allowed to see their daughter. They duly travelled to Kerman on Tuesday.
Richard Ratcliffe described the fact that the authorities kept their pledge as “very definitely a good day”.
Mrs Ratcliffe has not been charged with any offence, nor has she been allowed a lawyer. In an earlier phone conversation with her parents, she said that her case relates to “national security”. When she met her parents on Wednesday, the authorities said the "investigation was almost complete," according to Mr Ratcliffe.
The regime is deeply suspicious of Iranian citizens who also hold Western passports. Another British-Iranian, Kamal Foroughi, 76, has been in prison since 2011.