Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe now has 'big brother in playground' - husband
Her husband says she "remains fragile", but new foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt is striking a "more strident tone".
Sunday 2 September 2018 22:15, UK
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe threatened to go on hunger strike as she was taken back to prison in Iran, but has a "big brother in the playground" now that Jeremy Hunt has taken over as foreign secretary, her husband has told Sky News.
Speaking at a park in north London where the couple's daughter, Gabriella, used to play on the swings, Richard Ratcliffe said he was still awaiting a response after writing an open letter to Iran's foreign minister.
His wife, a British-Iranian dual citizen, was "so desolate, so broken" after being taken back to prison following her temporary release and "remains fragile".
But while she continues to feel "numb in her legs and dizzy and has headaches", Mr Ratcliffe said she was feeling better when he spoke to her on Sunday.
Gabriella, who was "really upset" after her mother returned to prison and "wouldn't sleep and wouldn't settle and wouldn't eat", visited Nazanin for 45 minutes on Sunday, and is now back in her normal routine.
While the family was extremely disappointed that Nazanin's temporary release from prison was not extended, Mr Ratcliffe said the new foreign secretary had been "very strong on Nazanin's case" after replacing Boris Johnson in July.
He continued: "I wanted him to make her a priority - it feels like he has. He's issued statements saying he thought she was innocent. He's been as strong as we could have wanted.
"It feels like she's got a big brother in the playground.
"It feels like we've got a more strident tone being taken from the foreign secretary."
Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe threatened to go on hunger strike when she was in the prosecutor's office last month on the way back to Evin prison in Tehran.
The family was "terrified" and managed to talk her out of it, Mr Ratcliffe said.
Since being back behind bars, the head of the prison has visited Nazanin twice, telling her to "keep calm", and promising to find out what was happening her case, without giving any clear answers.
"They were clearly very worried about her health condition - I think probably covering their own backs, as much as genuinely concerned," Mr Ratcliffe said.
The situation the family is in feels like a power game "between different parts of the Iranian regime, showing they're in charge, (and) between the Iranian government and the British government".
Mr Ratcliffe said: "We're being used in the middle, and it's cruel, because obviously there's a real family just trying to have a normal life."
Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arrested in April 2016 for "plotting to overthrow the Iranian regime" and was convicted last year, despite her denials.