Richard Ratcliffe to meet Foreign Secretary following hunger strike
Richard Ratcliffe is due to meet the Foreign Secretary to discuss further strategy around attempts to free his wife.
The meeting with Liz Truss follows a hunger strike which Mr Ratcliffe has been staging outside the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office since Sunday.
Mr Ratcliffe will be joined by his MP, Tulip Siddiq, who said she “desperately” hopes to find solutions to the situation.
The Labour MP for Hampstead and Kilburn raised the issue of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s ongoing imprisonment in Iran with an urgent question in the House of Commons on Monday.
Today I asked my 8th Urgent Question in the House about my constituent Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.
She faces yet another year in prison in Iran, and her husband Richard is on hunger strike.
When will this nightmare end? I urged the Government to do much more to #FreeNazanin. pic.twitter.com/mMLgr2fOdp
— Tulip Siddiq (@TulipSiddiq) October 25, 2021
She said: “Today, Richard is on hunger strike on the Foreign Secretary’s doorstep in Westminster in Whitehall, pleading with her and the Prime Minister to do more to challenge Iran’s hostage-taking and to bring Nazanin home to be reunited with him and their daughter, Gabriella.
“Going on hunger strike is the absolute last resort for anyone, and Richard told me that he feels there is no other option left, because he feels our Government’s response to his wife’s case has been pitiful.”
Ahead of Thursday’s meeting, Ms Siddiq tweeted: “Today I will be meeting the Foreign Secretary alongside my constituent, Richard Ratcliffe, to discuss Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s case.
“Richard has been on hunger strike since Sunday and I am desperately hoping we can find some solutions in our strategy meeting today. #FreeNazanin.”
The meeting is due to take place at noon.
