Pictures from happy days: Iranian Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and her British husband
Source: picture alliance / empics
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What is love? And why does it sometimes happen to us under difficult circumstances? In war on different sides, separated from religion or radical regimes, foreign and personal reservations or fear: We tell of couples who got together against resistance - and stayed together. Our sixth love story is about
Richard and Nazanin, who have been fighting for freedom for five years - and their love.
This is their story.
When they met, they were instantly connected.
“We hit it off right away,” says Richard Ratcliffe.
That was in 2007 at the university: “After a student conference we had a coffee, then another, then we went to dinner together, and two years later we were married,” he says.
"Talking to Nazanin felt like coming home to me."
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Nazanin came from the Iranian capital Tehran, moved to Great Britain to study and later worked there for the charitable Thomson Reuters Foundation, Richard as an accountant.
The Islamist mullah regime has ruled Iran since 1979, which systematically discriminates and persecutes women and minorities in particular.
Women who do not want to wear a headscarf face harassment from the Virtue Police and sometimes long prison sentences.
At Nazanin's side, Richard got to know the world anew, enjoyed things that were previously taken for granted, inspired by her joy in her new life, he says: “Without worrying about what to wear and the heavy feeling of being constantly watched. "
Love stories:
Ten years later, in April 2016, a trip to her old homeland will be fatal for Nazanin, a visit to the Persian New Year celebrations with her parents, together with their two-year-old daughter Gabriella.
On her departure, she was detained by the Revolutionary Guards at Tehran's Imam Khomeini Airport, and her daughter's passport was revoked.
In September 2016, a revolutionary court sentenced Nazanin to five years in prison for allegedly plotting a “conspiracy to overthrow” the Iranian government.
Gabriella stays with her grandparents in Tehran, can only keep in touch with her father via Skype and occasionally visit her mother in prison.
The imprisonment of foreign citizens is a popular means of exerting pressure and a regular business model for the mullah regime.
The exact number of foreign hostages is unknown, partly because some families choose not to make their cases public.
The capture of several Americans, Australians, Canadians, French and British, including many scientists, became known.
The case of a German woman, Nahid Taghavi, a 66-year-old architect from Cologne, who is being held in solitary confinement without charge and without access to lawyers, has also been public since October.
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The Iranian regime uses the prisoners to extort ransom or to exert political pressure on their respective governments.
In the Nazanin case, the mullahs are believed to be demanding around £ 450 million from the British government for their release from an old arms deal that was made in the days of the Shah, before the mullahs came to power in the Islamic Revolution.
I think we have deeper feelings for each other and feel more secure for one another
Richard Ratcliffe
Nazanin's health deteriorates in the notorious Evin Prison.
The situation is both physically and mentally difficult for her, especially the time in solitary confinement before she was transferred to the women's wing.
She suffers from severe panic attacks and physical symptoms of stress, in 2018 a vertebra slipped, she discovered lumps in her chest, suffers depression and at times can barely stand on her feet.
The visits of her little daughter and the thought of life with husband Richard and Gabriella give her strength: “At that time she tried to remember the pots in our kitchen, or what it felt like to watch Gabriella sleep, or what it would be like to come home, sit on the sofa and have a cup of tea, ”says Richard.
That scene, part memory, part hopeful imagination, was what she thought of most in isolation.
Daughter Gabriella is allowed to leave Iran after three and a half years and will return to London in October 2019, to her father.
Not an easy decision for the family, because their visits were an important support for Nazanin in prison.
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In March 2020, Nazanin could have been released early from custody, instead she is given leave of absence and an ankle cuff with which she is only allowed to move 300 meters.
She now lives with her parents in Tehran; only closest relatives dare to visit her.
But she now has internet and telephone connections to her family in London.
“So we can speak a lot more often than in the years she was in prison, several times a day, at least.
And we can make video calls - a big difference for Gabriella. "
At the age of six, Gabriella slowly understood more and more.
"She often complains about why her mommy has to be in jail or why the government doesn't just send the money so her mommy can come home," says Richard.
"She usually gets it at bedtime, when Nazanin is not there to put her to bed."
Did this year's Valentine's Day play a role for you as a couple?
"Nazanin is very romantic, and sometimes frustrated that her husband is less romantic," says Richard.
But she needs him these days "more as her anchor, less as a bouquet of flowers." Before the daughter's birth, the two usually went out to eat on Valentine's Day.
And on Valentine's Day 2016, the last one before they left for Iran, Nazanin and Gabriella were very happy to have made a Valentine's Day card for him.
Last year she sang Elvis Presley for him on the phone for Valentine's Day, “You are always on my mind”.
A song that means a lot to the couple: “We tell each other that we are there for each other.” At the same time, this separation gives a lot of time for reflection, “about all the missed moments in which one argued or did not show the other enough appreciation Has".
The song captures that mixture of love, regret and hope for a second chance.
The fear remains
There is currently cause for hope again - in a few weeks, on March 7th, Nazanin's prison sentence will expire.
But further moves by the Iranian regime are to be feared.
“Court rulings don't mean much in hostage-taking cases - they may well keep Nazanin detained indefinitely until they get what they want.
Or until the British government actually acts and protects them, ”says Richard.
The fear remains that it might continue.
“It is more my nature to plan for the worst, also as a coping strategy.
But sometimes the worst is too much for Nazanin.
She obviously has a clearer picture of what the worst means, clearer than me sitting in our living room. "
Although the end of the prison sentence is nearing, there are also rumors of a possible second trial and a second prison sentence.
Nazanin could no longer sleep or concentrate, show symptoms of stress such as sudden palpitations or restless legs syndrome.
“It can be very cruel to live this cat-and-mouse game.
In the event that she is not released on March 7th, we are preparing a mental torture complaint at the UN.
These games have been going on for too long and they are so exhausting. "
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For the past five years, Richard has been working daily to keep her case in the public eye, meeting with politicians and human rights activists.
“I don't like the feeling of running out of ideas.
This is the only way to keep despair at a distance.
And Nazanin needs the feeling that her release could be imminent. "
How does he imagine the reunion?
"I don't dare to think about that yet," says Richard.
“Nazanin used to envision it very specifically - how she and Gabriella come back, Gabriella runs into my arms, we all go home together.
But that's not how it turned out.
Gabriella is with me now.
And we had some false hopes. "
Even if he can't say how their relationship has changed, he is sure that the couple will survive this time together, says Richard.
“An experience like ours is a real stress test for a relationship.
I think that we have deeper feelings for each other and feel more secure for one another because we went through this together, even if it is still going on. "He met several couples who, after similar situations, are working to rebuild their relationships. which is by no means easy.
“The trauma doesn't just go away; it hits those closest to you,” he says.
“Sometimes she has to hear from me that I won't leave her behind.
Above all, we both want to have a normal relationship again, and for that we have to take many small, loving steps. "
Rediscovery of joy
On the first anniversary of her imprisonment, in April 2017, Richard asked campaign supporters what they would do if they only had one day free.
He collected the suggestions and hung them on a tree in the local park.
Including lots of ideas for simple pleasures - from going to the beach, walking in the forest full of bluebells to making jam with the children.
“I think that we will implement one suggestion each weekend.
Like a recipe book to rediscover joy. "
But Richard doesn't quite allow himself to look ahead yet.
The situation is too unpredictable.
“Ultimately, I want our love story to be a happy one.
We don't have to define ourselves in terms of the unfortunate events, even if they fill more years than we ever thought.
One day there will be freedom. "
This text is from WELT AM SONNTAG. We will be happy to deliver them to your home on a regular basis.
Source: WORLD