British mother held in Iranian prison taken to hospital after panic attacks

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has suffered multiple panic attacks since returning to jail

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the British mother imprisoned in Iran, has suffered multiple panic attacks after returning to jail.

She had been on temporary release and spent time with her four-year-old daughter, Gabriella, but since then has had several panic attacks, her husband Richard told The Telegraph this morning.

“She had a panic attack and collapsed today, and had one yesterday also.

“So she was taken to the prison clinic earlier and we were told she might be hospitalised.”

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe also fainted after voluntarily returning to prison on Sunday “with her head held high”, rather than be “dragged out of the house in front of her baby.” She had been on a temporary release with family since Thursday.

The British-Iranian mother was imprisoned by Iran’s Islamist regime for five years after being accused of spying.

She denies the charges, and says she was in the country so her daughter could spend time with her family.

Foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt said on Friday he had spoken to his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, without success.

Looks like Iranian legal system is impervious to the simple fact at the heart of this: an innocent woman is desperate to be reunited with her family. Spoke to Foreign Minister Zarif on Fri but that clearly wasn’t enough. The fight goes on #FreeNazanin https://t.co/fknbIRC2lb

— Jeremy Hunt (@Jeremy_Hunt) August 26, 2018