British woman jailed for five years in Iran

A British-Iranian woman held in Iran on suspicion of being a spy while travelling with her young daughter has been sentenced to five years in prison.

Richard Ratcliffe said his wife, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, was sentenced on “secret charges” by a revolutionary court. He says he learned of his wife’s sentence when she called him from prison.

The five-year sentence, expected to be served in Evin prison, was handed down by Judge Salavati of the revolutionary court on Tuesday – the day after the UK and Iran upgraded embassy relations.

There was no word on her sentence in Iranian state media. Iranian officials could not be reached for comment on Friday, the start of the Eid al-Adha holiday.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe works for the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the news agency’s charitable arm.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe was detained in April while trying to fly out of the country with her toddler daughter, Gabriella, who remains in Iran with relatives after authorities seized her passport.

Read More- The Guardian

Image courtesy of PA