Today I joined Richard Ratcliffe on the thirteenth day of his hunger strike outside the Iranian Embassy to protest the continued imprisonment of his wife, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arrested in Tehran’s Imam Khomeini airport on 3rd April 2016 when she was returning to Britain with her daughter, Gabriella, after a trip visiting family. She was accused of training and recruiting spies and detained in Iran. She has always strenuously denied these charges. Nazanin has been on hunger strike to protest against being denied access to medical care after finding lumps in her breast.

I have been contacted by lots of constituents who are appalled by the treatment of Nazanin and the way her family has been torn apart by her continued detention in Tehran. I wanted Richard to know about the support that their campaign has in Sheffield and to send a message to the Iranian authorities. Nazanin is a British citizen who has been unjustly detained, and we must strengthen the efforts to secure her release. I had a long conversation with Richard who wanted me to thank everyone in Sheffield who’s given their support.