VOA常速英语:Birthday Celebrated Via Skype for 2-year-old Stranded in Iran

Last day’s celebrations for a two-year-old caught in a diplomatic tussle, Gabriella Ratcliffe watched her party unfold via Skype from Tehran.

Her father, Richard Ratcliffe, organized the event outside the Iranian embassy in London, where he presented a birthday card with hundreds of signatures. Well-wishers have submitted thousands of birthday cards for Gabriella in Iranian embassies around the world.

Later, Ratcliffe told VOA he hoped the campaign might add to the pressure.

“There’s obviously a gentle politics there, which is just to remind the Iranian authorities that they’ve got a young baby there, and they’re keeping her away from her mom with no charges and no justification for two and a bit months. That’s just outrageous.”

Gabriella is being looked after by her grandparents in Iran.

“Obviously, she was very visibly upset at the beginning. So very traumatized, and wouldn’t sleep through the night, and kept going to the door, looking for Mommy.”

Richard’s wife, Nazanin was arrested on April 3rd in Tehran airport by the Iranian revolutionary guard.And she tried to return to Britain with Gabriella after visiting family. Officials also confiscated Gabriella’s passport.

Nazanin was detained in solitary confinement for 45 days. She has since been allowed to communicate with her parents, who believe she was moved to another location last week. Her husband says the family is petrified.

“Particularly now I’ve gone public, and there’s a higher risk for them certainly, so they’re certainly very wary about what they tell me and very wary about the repercussions, not only on Nazanin but also on other members of the family.”

Nazanin has not been officially charged with any offense, and Iranian authorities have not said why she is being detained. She worked for a charity — the Thomson Reuters Foundation — but was not on business travel, and the company does not operate in Iran. Her husband fears she is caught up in a political tussle.

“It’s obviously at a time of change in Iran, between those who are trying to build good relations with the West and those who are trying to stop that process. And beyond that, I’m out of my depth.”

A petition demanding that the British prime minister raise the issue with Iran has gained over three-quarters of a million signatures, but he has yet to respond. The Ratcliffe family’s local member of parliament says more should be done.