LONDON: British-Iranian aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is being subjected to “psychological torture” by the Iranian regime as her hopes of being granted clemency were dashed yet again, her husband said.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 41, spent last week having nightmares whilst she waited to discover her fate on Friday, Richard Ratcliffe said. “There’s no news today,” was all she was told.
“It is fair to say that what Nazanin has gone through amounts to psychological torture,” he told the Observer.
“The supreme leader [Ayatollah Ali Khamenei] has granted clemency to everyone who meets certain criteria. Nazanin meets the criteria,” Ratcliffe added.
However, there is a dispute between the judiciary, who are trying to uphold the law, and the Revolutionary Guard, the aid worker’s lawyers told Ratcliffe.
The uncertainty has left Zaghari-Ratcliffe “deflated”, “unsettled” and desperate to see her five-year-old daughter, Gabriella, in England, Ratcliffe said.
“The Revolutionary Guard have had no problem making a mockery of Iranian law,” he said. “But this is the first time we’ve had a situation where not only is the Iranian foreign ministry, behind closed doors, trying to solve this for diplomatic purposes, but also the judiciary are trying to solve this case.”
In mid-March, Zaghari-Ratcliffe was temporarily released from Tehran’s notorious Evin prison for two weeks along with thousands of other prisoners in a bid to contain the rapid spread of coronavirus in Iran. The furlough was extended until May 27.
However, her hopes of being granted clemency were dashed for the second time in a week on Friday when she was informed that a decision had not been made.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a project manager with the Thomson Reuters Foundation, has served nearly four of her five-year sentence.
She convicted of plotting to overthrow Iran’s clerical establishment, a charge her family, the foundation and its news subsidiary Reuters deny.
She was arrested in April 2016 at a Tehran airport as she headed back to Britain with her daughter after a family visit.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards ‘psychologically torturing’ Zaghari-Ratcliffe by blocking clemency
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Iran’s Revolutionary Guards ‘psychologically torturing’ Zaghari-Ratcliffe by blocking clemency
- “It is fair to say that what Nazanin has gone through amounts to psychological torture,” Richard Ratcliffe said
- The uncertainty over her fate has left Zaghari-Ratcliffe “deflated” and “unsettled”
Israel says Hamas committed two violations of Gaza ceasefire deal
JERUSALEM: Israel said on Sunday that Hamas had violated a ceasefire agreement, which came into effect one week ago and has so far resulted in the release of seven hostages and dozens of Palestinian prisoners.
“During the execution of the second phase of the swap yesterday, Hamas committed two violations. Arbel Yehud, a civilian hostage who was scheduled for release on Saturday, has not been freed, and the detailed list of all hostages’ statuses has not been provided,” said a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.
Israeli fire wounds five in south Lebanon as residents try to return, Lebanese media reports
- Israel said on Friday it intended to keep troops on the ground beyond the Sunday deadline
- Kfar Kila is one of dozens of border villages where residents are forbidden from returning
Israel said on Friday it intended to keep troops on the ground beyond the Sunday deadline stipulated in the US-brokered ceasefire that halted last year’s war with the Iran-backed Hezbollah. Israel did not say how long its forces would remain.
The deal stipulated that Israeli forces should withdraw from south Lebanon as Hezbollah’s weapons and fighters were removed from the area and the Lebanese army deployed, within in a 60-day period which ended on Sunday morning.
Israel has said the terms had not been fully enforced by the Lebanese state, while Lebanon’s US-backed military on Saturday accused Israel of procrastinating in its withdrawal.
Lebanon’s National News Agency reported that Israeli forces opened fire on residents of the village of Kfar Kila after they crossed a barricade put up by Israeli forces, wounding five.
The Israeli military said it was looking into the report.
Kfar Kila is one of dozens of border villages that the Israeli military has said residents are forbidden from returning to until further notice.
WHO chief urges end to attacks on Sudan health care after 70 killed in drone strike
- WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus: ‘We continue to call for a cessation of all attacks on health care in Sudan’
The head of the World Health Organization called on Saturday for an end to attacks on health care workers and facilities in Sudan after a drone attack on a hospital in Sudan’s North Darfur region killed more than 70 people and wounded dozens.
“As the only functional hospital in El Fasher, the Saudi Teaching Maternal Hospital provides services which include gyn-obstetrics, internal medicine, surgery and pediatrics, along with a nutrition stabilization center,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus posted on X after the Friday strike.
“We continue to call for a cessation of all attacks on health care in Sudan, and to allow full access for the swift restoration of the facilities that have been damaged,” Tedros said.
The war between Sudan’s army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which broke out in April 2023 due to disputes over the integration of the two forces, has killed tens of thousands, driven millions from their homes and plunged half of the population into hunger.
The conflict has produced waves of ethnically driven violence blamed largely on the RSF, creating a humanitarian crisis.
Darfur Governor Mini Minnawi said on X that an RSF drone had struck the emergency department of the hospital in the capital of North Darfur, killing patients, including women and children.
Fierce clashes have erupted in El Fasher between the RSF and the Sudanese joint forces, including the army, armed resistance groups, police, and local defense units.
Devastating toll for Gaza’s children: Over 13,000 killed and an estimated 25,000 injured, UN says
- UN says out of 40,717 Palestinian bodies identified so far, roughly a third or 13,319 were children
- Nearly 19,000 children were hospitalized for acute malnutrition in four months before December 2025
UNITED NATIONS: The war in Gaza has been devastating for children: More than 13,000 have been killed, an estimated 25,000 injured, and at least 25,000 hospitalized for malnutrition, according to UN agencies.
As Britain’s deputy UN ambassador, James Kariuki, recently told the Security Council, “Gaza has become the deadliest place in the world to be a child.”
“The children of Gaza did not choose this war,” he said, “yet they have paid the ultimate price.”
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported Thursday that of the 40,717 Palestinian bodies identified so far in Gaza, one-third – 13,319 – were children. The office said Friday the figures came from Gaza’s Ministry of Health.
The UN children’s agency, UNICEF, said the estimate of 25,000 children injured came from its analysis based on information collected together with Gaza’s Health Ministry.
UN deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said nearly 19,000 children had been hospitalized for acute malnutrition in the four months before December.
That figure also came from UNICEF, which said it was from data collected by UN staff in Gaza focusing on nutrition, in coordination with all pertinent UN agencies.
The UN says thousands of children have also been orphaned or separated from their parents during the 15-month war.
Yasmine Sherif, executive director of the UN global fund Education Cannot Wait, told a press conference that 650,000 school-age children haven’t been attending classes and the entire education system has to be rebuilt because of the widespread destruction in Gaza.
Diplomats from Britain, France and other countries also cited the toll on Israeli children who were killed, injured and abducted during Hamas’ attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 – with some still being held hostage.
Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon asked the Security Council whether it ever paused to consider the plight of Israeli children “mutilated, tortured and murdered” on Oct. 7, the 30 who were kidnapped and the tens of thousands who have been displaced, their homes destroyed.
“The trauma they have endured is beyond imagination,” he said.
Danon called Thursday’s council meeting on children in Gaza “an affront to common sense,” accusing Hamas of turning Gaza into “the world’s largest terror base” and using children as human shields.
“The children of Gaza could have had a future filled with opportunity,” he said. “Instead, they are trapped in a cycle of violence and despair, all because of Hamas, not because of Israel.”
Devastating toll for Gaza’s children: Over 13,000 killed and an estimated 25,000 injured, UN says
- The UN says thousands of children have also been orphaned or separated from their parents during the 15-month war
UNITED NATIONS: The war in Gaza has been devastating for children: More than 13,000 have been killed, an estimated 25,000 injured, and at least 25,000 hospitalized for malnutrition, according to UN agencies.
As Britain’s deputy UN ambassador, James Kariuki, recently told the Security Council, “Gaza has become the deadliest place in the world to be a child.”
“The children of Gaza did not choose this war,” he said, “yet they have paid the ultimate price.”
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported Thursday that of the 40,717 Palestinian bodies identified so far in Gaza, one-third – 13,319 – were children. The office said Friday the figures came from Gaza’s Ministry of Health.
The UN children’s agency, UNICEF, said the estimate of 25,000 children injured came from its analysis based on information collected together with Gaza’s Health Ministry.
UN deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said nearly 19,000 children had been hospitalized for acute malnutrition in the four months before December.
That figure also came from UNICEF, which said it was from data collected by UN staff in Gaza focusing on nutrition, in coordination with all pertinent UN agencies.
The UN says thousands of children have also been orphaned or separated from their parents during the 15-month war.
Yasmine Sherif, executive director of the UN global fund Education Cannot Wait, told a press conference that 650,000 school-age children haven’t been attending classes and the entire education system has to be rebuilt because of the widespread destruction in Gaza.
Diplomats from Britain, France and other countries also cited the toll on Israeli children who were killed, injured and abducted during Hamas’ attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 – with some still being held hostage.
Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon asked the Security Council whether it ever paused to consider the plight of Israeli children “mutilated, tortured and murdered” on Oct. 7, the 30 who were kidnapped and the tens of thousands who have been displaced, their homes destroyed.
“The trauma they have endured is beyond imagination,” he said.
Danon called Thursday’s council meeting on children in Gaza “an affront to common sense,” accusing Hamas of turning Gaza into “the world’s largest terror base” and using children as human shields.
“The children of Gaza could have had a future filled with opportunity,” he said. “Instead, they are trapped in a cycle of violence and despair, all because of Hamas, not because of Israel.”
