Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a 38 year-old British-Iranian charity worker was arrested at Tehran airport on 3rd April last year following a visit to her family in Iran. She was with her daughter – Gabriella – at the time of her arrest. Gabriella is currently stranded in Iran, leaving her without access to her father in the United Kingdom because her passport was confiscated. Her grandparents (from her maternal side) are looking after her in Iran.
The Iranian authorities have said that Ms. Zaghari-Ratcliffe was plotting to topple the government and in September she was sentenced to five years in prison. Maintaining her innocence, she launched an appeal but it was rejected in January. Her official charge is unknown, even to Ms. Zaghari-Ratcliffe herself, but media in Iran is reporting that “one of the chief members of networks of adversary institutions, who – with the direction and support of foreign media and espionage services – has committed her criminal acts over the past few years”.