Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe urges Starmer not to get dragged into Trump war on Iran
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe joined more than 100 Iranians living in the UK urging Sir Keir Starmer not to be dragged further into the Iran conflict, warning that war would strengthen the regime in Tehran.
The letter, signed by two former political prisoners of Iran, warns that “attacking the country in this way” will “consolidate the authoritarians”.
The agreement lays out a series of peaceful steps to aid internal opposition in Iran, such as the provision of Starlink internet services to end the ongoing communications blackout within the country.
This comes after Iran’s supreme leader, 86-year-old Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in Israeli airstrikes earlier this month and was replaced by one of his sons, Mojtaba Khamenei, who was appointed on Monday.
The letter he saw Guard, He writes: “No one can claim to want the end of the Islamic republic more than we do, but attacking the country in this way will have the opposite effect.
“It will consolidate the authoritarians and give life to the fiction that has sustained them internally for decades: They are fighting against Western imperialism.
“When Netanyahu, accused of international war crimes after killing countless civilians in Gaza, assassinated Iran’s dictator, it killed the man but immortalized the legend. Iranians wanted him to be tried and punished for his crimes, rather than the martyrdom he desired.”
Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian national, was jailed on false espionage charges after she was arrested with her young daughter Gabriella while visiting family in Iran in 2016.
Her husband, Richard Ratcliffe, launched a long campaign to raise awareness of her arrest and force the UK to strike a deal with Iran. Both took part in hunger strikes, including Mr Ratcliffe’s hunger strike outside the Foreign Office.
The letter was also signed by Aras Amiri, a former British Council employee who was imprisoned in Evin prison in Tehran for three years, and Nesrin Parvaz, who was imprisoned in Iran for eight years from 1982.
The agreement was also signed by many well-known artists, academics and writers from Iranian society.
He writes: “A pro-democracy policy will protect political prisoners and ensure that Israel and the United States do not bomb prisons like Evin. This is the cells where Iran’s future democratic leaders reside.”
“A pro-democracy policy will smuggle internet devices, not weapons, across the border and break the blackout that envelops the country.
“A pro-democracy policy calls out Israel’s assassination policy, even when it targets leaders we hate. There is so much that can be done in solidarity with the Iranians. But joining Netanyahu’s forever wars is not.”
Those who signed the letter said they were “stricken with sadness. For decades we had hoped for the day when Iran’s democracy could finally flourish. Many of us have been unable to visit Iran for years for fear of imprisonment or worse.”
Sir Keir initially refused permission to assist the US with the first wave of military action against Iran, but later allowed US “defensive” action against Iranian missile sites from UK bases.
On Tuesday night, British foreign secretary Yvette Cooper underlined “close coordination” on Middle East security in a meeting with her US counterpart after Washington threatened “peak day” attacks on Iran.
Ms Cooper’s meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio came after American B1 bombers were seen taking off from RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire and explosions were reported in Tehran.
