Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe ‘improving’ after coronavirus fears

A British-Iranian woman being held in a Tehran prison had symptoms consistent with coronavirus but they are improving, according to those campaigning for her release.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was taken to see a doctor at the jail earlier this week but was not tested, according to the Free Nazanin campaign.

In a statement on Sunday evening, Free Nazanin said: “[The doctor] confirmed to her that her symptoms were clearly a virus and were consistent with coronavirus but he also confessed he was unable to test her with a testing kit.

“The doctor, however, did reassure Nazanin that since her symptoms had stabilised it was likely a positive sign that she was hopefully soon going to start to recover.”

Nazanin’s husband Richard previously said that his wife had been suffering from a “strange cold”.

He described her as suffering from a continual cold sweat and as having feelings of nausea.

Free Nazanin accused Iran of “stubborn failure” and raised concerns of a “continuing cover up” for their refusal to test Nazanin.

They added: “Nazanin is not in good health, even with the improvements of the past couple of days.

“She was not in good health, even before coronavirus, which is why she has been brought several times before Iran’s Health Commission to decide whether she should be kept in prison.

“To date, it has conspicuously refused to decide, or to make available any of Nazanin’s medical records.”

Iran is one of the country’s worst hit by Covid-19 outside China, and the illness was said to have reached the Evin prison, where Nazanin is being held, last week.

Across the country the death toll has reached 194 out of around 6,500 cases.

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arrested at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini airport while travelling to show her young daughter, Gabriella, to her parents in April 2016.

She was sentenced to five years in prison over allegations, which she denies, of plotting to overthrow the Tehran government.

Earlier this week an Foreign Office spokesman said: “We are urgently seeking information from the Iranian authorities on reports that coronavirus is spreading in Evin prison.

“We call on the Iranian government to immediately allow health professionals into Evin prison to assess the situation of British-Iranian dual nationals there.”