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According to her husband, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffes arrest may be connected to her work for Reuters and the BBC. Photograph: Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe/PA

A British-Iranian woman serving a five-year jail sentence in Tehran on unspecified charges relating to national security is losing her hair and experiencing low and despairing moods as her incarceration lasts far beyond her familys expectation.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffes conviction was upheld by Irans supreme court in April, one year after her arrest. Her husband, Richard Ratcliffe, has told the Guardian that he is now focusing on political pressure, urging the UK government to take up her case more seriously after recent elections in both countries.

Ratcliffe said while his wifes physical health has become more stable, she is applying to see a psychologist, as she says her mood is very unstable quick to sink into depression.

We dont know how long this will last, he said. Weve had Irans elections and UK elections and theres no obvious sign of anything moving, the whole court case is finished, there is basic powerlessness that theres nothing we can do.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 38, was arrested in April 2016 while she and her then two-year-old daughter, Gabriella, were about to return to the UK after a family visit to Iran. Since then, she has spent most of her time in Tehrans Evin prison, away from her daughter.

The Revolutionary Guards, the elite forces that arrested her at the airport, have accused her of attempting to orchestrate a soft overthrow of the Islamic Republic. Her husband condemned the criminal charges as a self-serving fabrication, indicating in a petition update that her imprisonment might be connected to her work as a project manager at the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the news agencys charitable arm, and her previous work at the BBC in London.

Iranian authorities loathe the BBC because of its Persian service, which is watched by millions of Iranians via illegal satellite dishes. Reuters journalists were expelled from Iran after their Tehran office was closed down in April 2012.

Ratcliffe said he is going to meet Alistair Burt, the new foreign office minister, next week. Now that weve exhausted possibilities in Iran, its time to put the focus back on pushing the British government to do more, he added.

I dont think the [UK] government has been protecting us; they have provided consular assistance and they have expressed concerns, and the ambassador has been to visit Gabriella to check she is OK, but in terms of criticising her treatment and saying its abuse, theyve never said that this does not meet the minimum legal standards, that its not a fair trial. That this is a nonsense. Shes obviously not important enough yet.

Ratcliffe said he was upset the UK government always emphasised that she is a dual national, rather than shes a British citizen. Iran cant play these games, it doesnt recognise dual citizenship on one hand and on the other hand, theyve been holding her until she gets some sort of agreement with the British government.

A string of dual nationals languish in Iranian jails, but exactly how many is unclear. One lawyer has put the number as high as 40. Among dual nationals behind bars are Karan Vafadari, an Iranian-American national belonging to the Zoroastrian faith, and his wife Afarin Neyssari. Kamal Foroughi, a British-Iranian businessman, has been imprisoned in Iran since 2011.

Also in jail is Ahmadreza Djalali, a scientist from Sweden. Foreign Policy reported this week that the UN chief, Antnio Guterres, has reached out to Irans president, Hassan Rouhani, regarding the imprisonment of Iranian-American Baquer Namazi, a former Unicef official, who has been given 10 years alongside his son, Siamak Namazi.

It seems to be that there are different motives at different times but broadly, Nazanin was part of a wave of people that were taken for what feels to me internal politics between different parts of the Iranian regime fighting with each other, Ratcliffe said.

There clearly is a phenomenon, its got a domestic policy aspect, its got a foreign policy aspect and its something that weve been pushing the UN special rapporteur to try and take up you cannot hold people like this as a tool of foreign policy.

He said he recognised that Rouhani was not driving the treatment of his wife but appealed for him to help. She was taken by the Revolutionary Guards, and the judiciary its a different part of the regime [but Rouhani] can make it very clear that this has to stop; its not good for Iran. Normal Iranians are being held like this. Its affecting Irans image globally.

Nazanin voted for President Rouhani this time, she voted for President Rouhani last time, that really was with a view that his promises of improving civil rights and of allowing Iran to become a normal, proud country.

Ratcliffe said his wifes case had been hijacked by opposition figures that pictures from their campaign were used by those who want to justify very strong action against Iran.

It just looks terrible ... allowing those voices that want to do terrible things to Iran to point and say, look what these people are doing, I think the human cost of it is not small.

An official from the Iranian embassy in London told the Guardian in April that Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been detained due to her illegal acts, but she had access to medical care and could visit her family.

Earlier this month, she was able to meet her daughter in prison during a family visit, marking her third birthday. She was able to make a cherry cake, which the family were allowed to take home to eat, according to a petition update posted by her husband.

The British-Iranian wrote a letter addressed to her daughter from inside prison, according to Irans defenders of human rights centre. In it, she recounted memories of her birth, times of feeding and sleeping, and the hiccups and the non-stop sneezes.

But those sweet and beautiful days did not last long, she wrote. Our trip to Iran last Norouz [2016], when you were 22 months, was one of no return.

The past 14 months, my share of you is only the occasional hour in the visiting room at Evin prison. How young you are to be forced to go through such a horrible experience?

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British-Iranian woman jailed in Tehran in state of 'despair' - The Guardian

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US reps. slam Iran nuclear deal at Tehran regime opponents' summit - The Jerusalem Post

Education Minister Naftali Bennett on Sunday said Israel will not allow Iran to establish a land corridor to Lebanon and Syria by way of Iraq, which the Islamic Republic is seeking to use to shore up its supply lines to its Syrian and Lebanese proxies.

Iran is trying to create a contiguous land corridor from Iran to Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. We will not allow this to happen, Bennett, who heads the Orthodox-nationalist Jewish Home party, told Army Radio.

Senior Israeli officials have previously warned of Iranian efforts to set up a land passage from Tehran to Beirut, which Intelligence Ministry Director-General Hagai Tzuriel told The Times of Israel in a March interview would help Iran cement its presence in Syria, something Israel views as a strategic threat.

Bennetts comments came as the Yedioth Ahronoth daily reported Sunday that Israeli officials are increasingly preoccupied with Iranian efforts to establish missile factories in Lebanon for the Hezbollah terror group, which was first reported by the Kuwaiti newspaper al-Jarida in March.

A Hezbollah fighter stands behind an empty rocket launcher, May 22, 2010. (AP/Hussein Malla)

Such facilities would allow Iran to arm Hezbollah without having to transport weapons through Syria, where Israel is believed to have carried out a number of airstrikes on weapons convoys destined for the Shiite terror group in recent years.

According to the Yedioth report, Israel is weighing whether to launch a preemptive strike on the missile factories, which it views as a threat to its deterrence vis-a-vis Hezbollah.

According to Hebrew-language reports last month, Israel has been speaking to friendly nations who also have diplomatic relations with Tehran, asking them to convey to the Islamic Republic that Jerusalem will not tolerate the continued arming of the southern Lebanese terror group and Iranian proxy, in particular the construction of the underground weapons-production factories. Those reports cited a European diplomatic source.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

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Bennett: We won't allow Iran to establish land corridor to Syria - The Times of Israel

Iran's defense minister says despite Western countries propaganda, Syrian forces have never used chemical weapons against terrorists, who are using weapons of mass destruction in their war against Damascus.

Addressing a ceremony held to mark the 30th anniversary of a chemical attack against the Iranian city of Sardasht, Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan said during the past few days, 3,000-4,000 sorties have been conducted over the region by countries like the UK and Italy, who have announced that the Syrian government is planning to use chemical weapons in its future operations.

The Islamic Republic of Iran announces that the Syrian government is not after usingchemical weapons and this claim (that the Syrian government has used chemical weapons) by some individuals who regard themselves as the rulers of the world is questionable, he added.

Dozens of people were killed in a chemical attack in the Syrian town of Khan Shaykhun in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib on April 4.

The United States and its allies were quick to accuse the Syrian government forces of carrying out the attack. The Syrian army; however, said that it has never used them (chemical weapons), anytime, anywhere, and will not do so in the future.

Pointing to the US support for terror groups in the Middle East, the Iranian defense minister said the world is concerned that terrorists have combined terrorism and war with weapons of mass destruction.

He added that Takfiris are using weapons of mass destruction; however, some countries are cooperating with these terrorists instead of countering them.

The Iranian minister criticized some countriesfor claiming that they were countering terrorists at a time thatterror groups were provided with financial support.

The Islamic Republic is a victim of terrorism and chemical weapons, Dehqan said, adding, We have always expressed our objection to producing, stockpiling and use of weapons of mass destruction.

He emphasized that during the Iraqi imposed war on Iran in the 1980s, the Islamic Republic never used weapons of mass destruction and Iran's stance in this regard was unchanging.

Dehqan said 111 civilians lost their lives and more than 8,000 people were injured in the chemical attackon the Iranian city ofSardasht on June 28, 1987by Iraq during the rule of the executed Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein.

Sardasht was the third populated city in the world, after Japan's Hiroshima and Nagasaki, to be deliberately targeted with weapons of mass destruction. It was also the first city in the world to be attacked with poisonous gas.

The Iranian defense minister further expressed concern over the ongoing situation in the region and warned that acts of terror would result in terrible consequences for the international community.

Dehqan added, Weapons of mass destruction have never brought about security, but are used for killing and creating human catastrophe.

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Syria not using chemical weapons against terrorists: Iran's defense minister - Press TV

The net effect of Donald Trumps sycophantic support of Riyadh is that it absolves the Saudis of any of their own responsibility for terror.

The Saudi attempt to pin all the blame on Iran, and point to Qatar as its supposed chief subcontractor, flies in the face of whats really going on in the world.

Iran is anything but blameless, far from it. And Qatar is to blame as well. But if we look at Saudi money paths and Wahhabi indoctrination, it is clear that Saudi-sponsored terrorism is more virulent than ever before.

Simply put, the threat of Iranian-sponsored terrorism is so . . . 1980s. In contrast, what is very 21st century is Salafist terrorism.

And although Qatar sponsors or assists its share of that in Libya, the Sahara and Syria, the principal source of support, financial and ideological, that Salafist terrorists use has Saudi Arabia written all over it. It is Saudi-inspired and -educated machinations of deviousness that keep hitting Western targets.

Where does it end?

Thus, in the most charitable interpretation, what Trumps laissez faire translates into is that, instead of acknowledging Saudi terror sponsorship a key step if Trump really wanted to fight global terror he has given them not just a pass, but his blessing.

That is not just completely idiotic, but dangerous.

Whatever Irans faults, and they are plenty, unlike in Saudi Arabia, the Iranian regimes religious superstructure and hardline military are not representative of its people.

As we know from opinion polling and elections yes, Iran has those two-thirds of society, broadly speaking, embraces the universal notions of Western freedoms. If the number were to surpass 10-15% among Saudis, it would be astonishing.

Time to open our eyes

It is high time for the entire West to understand that Saudi Arabia is the far less favorable mirror image of Iran. Below the very thin veneer of an extremely cynical, U.S.-friendly royal regime, the Saudi population is deeply hostile and explosively reactionary.

That is so because those same Saudi rulers see to it that, in its mosques, as in as many mosques of the world as possible, the United States (and the rest of the West) is seen as the fountain of all evil.

For that reason, the United States, under Trump, has not just aligned itself one-sidedly, but if a choice were to be made also on the wrong side of the equation.

But at least the rest of the Western world should not close its eyes before all that limitless acid the Saudis are ready to spew.

In Trumps defense?

Perhaps the most stunning fact in all this is that Trump probably hasnt realized any of this. His mind works on a much planer level.

One part of the explanation is that Trump, forever craving for affirmation, thoroughly enjoys playing Americas meddler-in-chief. That is why he loved playing big man during his recent visit to Saudi Arabia, where his hosts played him like a fiddle. They even pumped up his needy ego with huge banners of his face.

The other part is the U.S. President probably just wanted to do the Saudis, a longtime U.S. ally and excellent customer for U.S. military goods, a favor.

In Trumps world, that is an entirely rational act: The customer is always right (provided he also pleases Trump).

No wonder then that, after his return and in view of the looming Saudi blockade of Qatar, Trump dutifully took to the tweet waves to sanctify the Saudi action.

Meddler in Chief

What is indisputable is that, with Trump in the Oval Office, a dangerous amateur gets to play games the real meaning of which he does not comprehend.

The sad news is that Donald Trump, the veteran pitchman for whoever will put his name and face on their product or service for a ludicrously high fee, has now effectively made himself the chief Saudi lobbyist not just in the United States, but the world at large.

Amazingly, for that to happen, he did not even have to be hijacked or taken hostage. He volunteered for the job.

Quid pro quo?

One wonders why. Donald Trump doesnt have a lot of good sense, but he aint stupid. It is hard to imagine that he acted out of conviction.

As far as we know, Mr. Trump does not currently receive any compensation from the Saudis for that pivotal role (other than the proceeds from some hotel bookings in Washington, D.C.).

But as he knows full well, that is not what matters. As commercially-minded and transactional as both he and the Saudis are, one can rest assured that there will likely be some big condo deals for the Trump Organization throughout the Gulf as well as other niceties.

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Iran and the Saudi deflection campaign - Salon