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29th Aug 2018

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

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

Oli Dugmore

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.”

LONDON, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 15: Richard Ratcliffe, the husband of the detained British-Iranian woman Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe arrives at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to meet with Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson on November 15, 2017 in London, England. Nazanin has been held in Tehran since April 2016 after a family holiday with her daughter to Iran, but has been accused of trying to overthrow the Government which she denies. (Photo by Jack Taylor/Getty Images)

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.

Richard said: “She [Nazanin] promised Gabriella that the next time she saw her it would be forever not just for a few days, for proper freedom, not just for furlough.

“And next time they will go back to London to be with daddy.”