Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe latest: Jailed mother ‘closer to being freed’ after Boris Johnson visits Iran

The husband of jailed London mother Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe believes she is closer to coming home for Christmas after Boris Johnson’s visit to Iran.

Richard Ratcliffe said his wife, who is in prison in Tehran, was “relieved” that a court hearing which could have increased her jail sentence was postponed yesterday.

Mr Ratcliffe believes the postponement was due in part to the timing of the visit by the Foreign Secretary, who met Iran’s president Hassan Rouhani and foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif over the weekend.

He said: “We are hoping beyond hope she will be back for Christmas. It felt more possible to her yesterday than previously. It felt more like it can happen now. Obviously it might not happen but I think for our emotional sanity believing it can is really important.”

Mr Ratcliffe was due to meet Mr Johnson at the Foreign Office today to discuss his visit to Iran.

Charity worker Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 38, of Hampstead, was arrested in April last year as she tried to board a flight to London with her then 18-month-old daughter Gabriella after visiting her parents in Tehran. She was later sentenced to five years on spying charges.

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who is a dual British-Iranian national, was due to be charged yesterday with spreading propaganda. This could have increased her jail term but the case was postponed without explanation. She denies all charges against her.

Mr Ratcliffe said: “Nazanin was relieved. She was much more positive. She was much more upbeat generally. Most of the conversations recently have either been quite tearful and needing quite a lot of reassurance and she didn’t say that at all yesterday. There’s been a sea change.

“We are still in the hands of the Iranians, but it felt like a good week for us. There’s now 10 days of hope — it’s a different kind of Advent if you like.”

Mr Ratcliffe is now making small preparations for Christmas.

“I’ve bought an Advent calendar for Gabriella so she can catch up on those chocolates, I also went out and bought a Christmas decoration, a little angel.

“I promised Nazanin that I wouldn’t put a Christmas tree up until she came back,” he added.