Iran regime is urged to Release Imprisoned British-Iranians, Families and MPs Petition UK Government

The 37-year-old Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, mother of a two year-old toddler

International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, October 28, 2016 - The families of two British-Iranian dual citizens who have been imprisoned in Iran without due process have delivered petitions to the British government urging it to seek their loved ones’ immediate release.
The petitions were delivered on October 24, 2016 with a letter co-signed by 117 Members of Parliament (MPs) and members of the House of Lords calling for the release of   the 37-year-old new mother Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, and other British-Iranians currently held in Iran.
“We have very strong humanitarian and health concerns about their detentions,” said MPs Oliver Dowden and Tulip Siddiq, who co-wrote the letter addressing Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson. “In addition, the judicial processes used in their cases do not appear to meet international standards.”
“We know you are aware of this issue and are acting,” continued the letter. “We urge the United Kingdom to use its recently restored relations with Iran to seek the immediate release of these prisoners and return [them] to their loved ones.”
The Amnesty International-sponsored petition, which is now closed, was signed by more than 73,000 supporters and delivered to the Foreign Office. The Change petition was signed by more than 200,000 supporters and was delivered to Prime Minister Theresa May at 10 Downing Street.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a London-based project manager for the charitable arm of the Thomson Reuters Foundation, was arrested at the Imam Khomeini Airport with her 22-month old daughter, Gabriella, on April 3, 2016 as she was trying to leave the country following a visit with her parents. She was sentenced to five years in prison on unspecified security charges in September 2016. Her husband, Richard Ratcliffe, has led an impassioned campaign for her release and as of October 2016 a petition for her release on the Change website had more than 800,000 signatures.
Several other dual nationals have been arrested in Iran in the past two years including Iranian-Canadian Homa Hoodfar, and Iranian-American Robin (Reza) Shahini. With the exception of Hoodfar, who was released in October 2016, all of them are still being held in Iran without due process.
The Judiciary’s ongoing imprisonment of dual nationals contradicts the government of Hassan Rouhani ’s repeated calls for expatriates to return to Iran. The growing number of arrests also reflect hardliners’ efforts to prevent the engagement with the West that the Rouhani administration has sought to encourage.