Category Archives: Iran

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe under consideration for clemency

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British-Iranian dual national has had her temporary release from prison extended because of the coronavirus outbreak

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the British-Iranian dual national on temporary release from a five-year jail sentence, is for the first time under formal consideration for clemency, her family has been told. A decision will be made by the highest level of Iran’s multi-layered government. There is no guarantee that clemency will be granted, or that she will be allowed to return to the UK.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe, seen by some as a bargaining chip in the wider diplomatic dispute between the UK and Iran, was given a temporary fortnight’s release from Evin prison, Tehran, on 17 March along with 85,000 other prisoners at risk from the coronavirus outbreak. She has been allowed to stay at her parents’ house in Tehran but made to wear an ankle brace that keeps her within 300 metres of her parents’ home.

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Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s leave from prison to be extended by two weeks

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British-Iranian’s release from jail in Tehran, due to Covid-19 outbreak, now runs until 18 April

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s husband has said her temporary leave from prison in Iran has been extended.

Richard Ratcliffe said his wife’s father had been told that her temporary release from Evin prison in Tehran - granted in response to the Covid-19 pandemic - had been extended by two weeks and would now run until April 18.

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Robert Levinson’s family confirms former FBI agent died in Iranian custody

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Levinson disappeared 13 years ago after being sent on a mission to Kish island by CIA analysts who had no authority to do so

Robert Levinson, a former FBI agent who disappeared in Iran in 2007, died in Iranian custody, according to a statement from his family.

The statement said Levinson’s family received the news from US officials but did not know how or when he died, only that his death preceded the coronavirus outbreak that has ravaged Iran.

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Iran ‘frees French researcher under prisoner exchange deal’

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Roland Marchal, whose colleague remains in detention, reportedly released in return for Iranian engineer

Emmanuel Macron says Iran has freed a French researcher imprisoned in the country, after France reportedly released an Iranian threatened with extradition to the US.

Macron said on Saturday he was “happy to announce the release of Roland Marchal, imprisoned in Iran since June 2019” and urged the Iranian authorities to immediately also free fellow researcher Fariba Adelkhah, the French president’s office said.

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End US sanctions against Iran so that we can fight coronavirus with all our might | Azadeh Moaveni and Sussan Tahmasebi

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The pandemic is ravaging an already weakened economy. But Iranian activists across society are stepping up

On Monday evening, just five days ahead of Nowruz, the Persian new year holiday, police descended upon a small local market in west Tehran. They ordered local vendors to pack up their wares, their socks, colanders, and plastic flowers, telling them that by selling goods in public they were helping spread the coronavirus. On Tuesday evening, they returned, and found one tenacious seller hawking in the same place. “You, here again!” barked a security officer. “If I don’t sell, how am I going to pay my rent?” the woman asked plaintively.

Related: UK presses US to ease Iran sanctions to help fight coronavirus

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Iran to pardon 10,000 including ‘security’ prisoners

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Announcement follows temporary release of 85,000 to ease pressure on prisons amid coronavirus crisis

Iran is to pardon 10,000 prisoners including political ones in honour of the Iranian new year on Friday, according to state TV.

It was not stated whether the pardons would include the British-Iranian aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe – who was released on Tuesday for two weeks, when 85,000 were let out temporarily because of coronavirus – or the British-Australian academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert, who was not known to have been released.

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Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe freed temporarily from Iranian prison

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British-Iranian dual national required to wear ankle brace and stay close to parents’ home

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the British-Iranian dual national, has been temporarily released from Evin prison on Tehran, but will be required to wear an ankle brace and not move more than 300 metres from her parents’ home.

Her two-week release came after weeks of family and diplomatic pressure on the Iranian judicial authorities to accept she was in vulnerable position in jail as the threat of coronavirus spread through Iran’s prison system.

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Coronavirus updates: WHO tells countries to ‘test, test, test’, as EU proposes 30-day travel ban – live news

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Director-general of World Health Organization says ‘We cannot fight a fire blindfolded’ and urges governments to test public; US measures ramped up; Germany closes shops. Follow the latest news

Angela Merkel has announced a raft of further drastic measures to curb the spread of the Covid-19 virus in Germany, including the closure of places of worship, playgrounds and non-essential shops.

Speaking at a press conference in Berlin on Monday afternoon, the German chancellor issued new guidelines for restricting social gatherings, which the country’s federal state are expected to enforce in the coming days. She said:

These are measures that we have never had in our country, but they are necessary to reduce the number of illnesses and severe illnesses and avoid overwhelming our health services.

The more individuals stick to these rules, the quicker we will get through this phase. The benchmark [for these measures] isn’t what we want to do, but what scientists tell us is the right response”.

Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, says he will close his country’s border to foreigners. Only four Canadian airports will be allowed to accept international flights, he said.

The closure will not apply to commerce or trade, Trudeau said.

HAPPENING NOW: I’m speaking from Rideau Cottage about the rapidly evolving COVID-19 outbreak and announcing significant new measures we’re taking to protect your health and keep you safe. Watch live: https://t.co/ZWtPbeNPVk

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Iran’s ambassador to UK reveals bilateral talks over £400m debt

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Envoy says Britain is taking a new approach to the release of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe without acknowledging any link to the debt

The Iranian ambassador to the UK says the British government is taking a new approach to the release of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, adding bilateral talks were taking place over the payment of an outstanding £400m debt owed by the UK to Iran.

Hamid Baeidinejad said the two sides were looking at novel ways for the debt to be paid.

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‘Do not let this fire burn’: WHO warns Europe over coronavirus

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Europe now centre of pandemic, says WHO, as Spain prepares for state of emergency

The World Health Organization has stepped up its calls for intensified action to fight the coronavirus pandemic, imploring countries “not to let this fire burn”, as Spain said it would declare a 15-day state of emergency from Saturday.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO director general, said Europe – where the virus is present in all 27 EU states and has infected 25,000 people – had become the centre of the epidemic, with more reported cases and deaths than the rest of the world combined apart from China.

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Revolutionary Guards to enforce coronavirus controls in Iran

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Streets, shops and public spaces to be cleared in next 24 hours after virus kills hundreds

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards are to clear streets, shops and public places in the country within the next 24 hours, in a dramatic escalation of efforts to combat the spread of coronavirus.

The near-curfew follows growing exasperation among MPs that calls for Iranian citizens to stay at home had been widely ignored, as people continued to travel before the Nowruz new year holidays. Shops and offices have largely remained open.

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British-Iranian prisoner tells of coronavirus chaos in Iranian jail

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Anoosheh Ashoori appeals for UK to do more to help secure his temporary release

A British-Iranian political prisoner being held in Tehran on spying charges has sent a recorded message saying that the jail he is in was in chaos because of coronavirus and appealing for the UK government to do more to help secure his temporary release.

Anoosheh Ashoori was transferred three days ago within Evin prison to ward four, one of the wards he claims housed coronavirus victims previously. Ashoori was sentenced two years ago to 10 years in jail on charges of spying for Israel, a charge he vehemently denies.

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Kylie Moore-Gilbert: jailed British-Australian not among 70,000 prisoners freed in Iran as coronavirus spreads

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Political prisoners, including the University of Melbourne academic, have overwhelmingly been excluded from furloughing

Iran has temporarily freed 70,000 prisoners from jails around the country out of fear coronavirus could spread through prisons unchecked, but British-Australian academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert has not been released.

Political prisoners have overwhelmingly been excluded from the furloughing of prisoners, with other dual nationals such as Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, an Iranian-born British aid worker, remaining imprisoned despite growing concerns for their health.

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Saudi Arabia seals off Shia Qatif region over coronavirus fears

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Only essential services will be allowed to operate in area home to 500,000 people

Saudi Arabia has cordoned off an oil-rich Shia region, suspended air and sea travel to nine countries and closed schools and universities, in a series of measures to contain the fast-spreading coronavirus.

Related: Saudi Arabia releases images of King Salman after purge of royals

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Coronavirus latest updates: Italy death toll nears 200 with almost 4,000 cases

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First cases reported in Vatican City, Peru and Serbia, while France has further 190 patients, bringing total number to 613

If you’d like to read a summary of the day’s events, here’s our coronavirus at-a-glance article from earlier this evening:

Related: Coronavirus latest: at a glance

A 15th person has died in the USA, according to a hospital in Washington state – the worst-hit in the union. EvergreenHealth Medical Center in the Seattle suburb of Kirkland has reported the state’s 12 death.

Kirkland is the site of an outbreak at a nursing facility, where at least six people have died.

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Coronavirus: doctors and nurses in Iran filmed dancing in bid to boost morale – video

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Footage has appeared on social media of Iranian health workers dancing and singing in an effort to keep morale up as the country faces the worst coronavirus outbreak outside China.

About 8% of the Iranian parliament’s MPs have tested positive for the coronavirus, officials have said, as the country announced plans to mobilise 300,000 soldiers and volunteers to fight the epidemic.

‘Indecent’ behaviour in public is banned in Iran, which means dancing can sometimes by punished under the country’s religious laws

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Golden Bear winner Mohammad Rasoulof sentenced to jail in Iran

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Director’s films ‘propaganda against the system’, judges reported to have declared – but coronoavirus outbreak casts doubt on whether he will accept summons to prison

Mohammad Rasoulof, the Iranian director who won the the top award at last month’s Berlin film festival, has been ordered to serve a one-year prison sentence over his movies, his lawyer has said.

Rasoulof’s sentence arose from three films that Iran’s authorities found to be “propaganda against the system”, his lawyer Nasser Zarafshan told the Associated Press. The sentence also included an order than he stop film-making for two years, the lawyer said.

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Coronavirus live updates: number of confirmed cases in UK jumps to 85

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More cases in Scotland and Ireland, Italians in India test positive while Facebook says it will take down hoax claims

Two groups of Italian tourists were under quarantine in India today, with 16 testing positive for the coronavirus, prompting authorities to tighten controls.

Health minister Harsh Vardhan said that passengers on all international flights would now be screened, the AFP news agency reported.

This seems to be emerging a bit of a trend. Footage has appeared showing Iranian health workers dancing and singing in an effort to keep morale up as the country faces the worst coronavirus outbreak outside China.

Videos of medical staff and #coronavirus patients square dancing together in several "shelter hospitals" in #Wuhan have gone viral on Chinese social media.

"Square dancing helps to cheer them up and improve their immunity, which is beneficial for their recovery." pic.twitter.com/Kpqsyqclkj

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‘An absolute disaster’: Iran struggles as coronavirus spreads

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Streets are empty, schools and cinemas are closed, but there is a feeling that officials have been too slow to react

Little rows of upright matchsticks, stuck in felt, have appeared alongside cash machines and lift doors, offering a chance for Iranians to press the buttons without their fingers touching potentially coronavirus-contaminated metal surfaces. Guides have also appeared on how to attach metal extensions to cigarette lighters for the same purpose, and in public some men no longer shake hands or kiss as a greeting, but instead tap their shoes on one another.

Traffic jams have disappeared from Tehran’s crowded streets, even if the pollution remains due to the filth generated by power stations, and the city’s now often empty metro train carriages are sprayed with disinfectant two or three times a day. Distance working and learning has become the norm. Evening language classes, popular in Tehran, are empty. Internet traffic is up 40% as Iranians work from home.

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