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British-Iranian Aid Worker Charged In Tehran's Revolutionary Court


A British-Iranian aid worker detained since early April and accused of trying to overthrow Iran's government has appeared in Tehran's Revolutionary Court for the first time, her family said on August 2.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe's husband, Richard Ratcliffe, dismissed accusations she sought a "soft toppling" of the government.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arrested as she tried to leave Iran after a short visit with her 2-year-old daughter. Her family said she appeared in the notorious Tehran court that handles security-related cases on August 1.

"When I spoke to Nazanin yesterday, she was deeply upset," her husband told Reuters.

"She is desperate that our daughter has been kept away from her mother and father now for four months," he said. "This remains a very cruel case."

Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 37, who works for the Thomson Reuters Foundation charity, has been allowed a lawyer. No trial date has been announced.

The Thomson Reuters Foundation said it has no dealings with Iran.

Several Iranian dual nationals from the United States, Britain, Canada, and France have been detained in the past few months and are being kept behind bars on various charges, including espionage or collaborating with a hostile government.

Based on reporting by AP and Reuters

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