Iran sending Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe back to prison would be 'inhumane', Downing Street warns

Downing Street today said it would be "inhumane" for Iran to send Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe back to prison after she was slapped with fresh charges.

The UK Government has been speaking to the "very highest levels" of the Iranian government, the Prime Minister's spokesman said.

It comes after the 42-year-old mother-of-one was told she was facing another trial this Sunday as she nears the end of her original five-year sentence.

The Prime Minister's spokesman said: “Iran’s decision to bring new charges against Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is indefensible and unacceptable.

“We have been consistently clear that she must not be returned to prison to do so would be unjust and inhumane.

“We are continuing to support Nazanin and her family at this very distressing time.”

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been detained in Iran since 2016 but was moved to house arrest in March.

However, she was picked up by Iranian Revolutionary Guards yesterday, returned to court and told she would face a second trial.

Her husband Richard Ratcliffe told the Standard she was “terrified” she would face more solitary confinement in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison, adding: “It brought back all those nightmares.”

He added: “She returned an emotional wreck. She came back [from court] and took off all her clothes to wash them, and showered thoroughly to feel clean again.”

The Iranian-British national will face a trial this Sunday on fresh charges of spreading anti-government propaganda, Mr Ratcliffe said.

The PM's spokesman said the Government was seeking to be allowed to attend any hearing, adding: “We’ve been very clear with the Iranians she must not be returned to prison.”

He said they were "determined" to see her reunited with her family in the UK, adding: “We have consistently raised the case of Nazanin and other dual British nationals with the very highest levels of the Iranian government and will of course continue to do so.”

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe was sentenced to five years in prison in 2016 over allegations, which she denies, of plotting to overthrow the Tehran government.

She has been living at her parents’ home in Tehran since thousands of prisoners were granted clemency and released from Iranian jails amid the Covid-19 outbreak.

It has been claimed Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe is being held in order to force the UK into settling a historic multi-million pound dispute over Chieftain tanks with Iran.

Asked about the dispute, the PM's spokesman said it was an "ongoing legal process".