Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe ‘loses latest appeal in Iran’

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has lost her latest appeal in Iran, meaning she could be sent back to prison “at any time”, her MP has said.

Labour MP Tulip Siddiq said Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s sentence of one year plus a one-year travel ban has been “upheld with no court hearing”.

The Hampstead and Kilburn MP has urged Prime Minister Boris Johnson to intervene in the case.

Ms Siddiq tweeted: “Just spoke to my constituent Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s husband Richard.

“Nazanin has lost her latest appeal and her sentence of 1 year plus 1 year travel ban is upheld with no court hearing.

“She could now be returned to prison at any time. The PM must act now to #FreeNazanin.”

Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian dual national, has been in custody in the country since 2016 after being accused of plotting to overthrow the government.

She was taking her daughter Gabriella to see her family when she was arrested and was sentenced to five years in prison shortly afterwards, spending four years in Evin Prison.

She spent the final year of her sentence under house arrest in Tehran, but after her release this year was convicted of “spreading propaganda against the regime”.

Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe and her family have reportedly been told by Iranian authorities that she is being detained because of the UK’s failure to pay an outstanding £400 million debt to Iran.

She is one of several people with British or dual-British nationality detained in Iran.

Her husband Richard Ratcliffe, Ms Siddiq and Amnesty International have been campaigning for her release for several years.

Last month, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss met with her Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian at the United Nations General Assembly, where she “pressed” him on the issue and vowed to “continue to press” him on the issue until Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe returns home.

The Foreign Office has been contacted for comment.