Boris Johnson demands immediate release of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe

10 March 2021, 17:24 | Updated: 10 March 2021, 17:44

Boris Johnson has demanded the immediate release of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe in a phone call with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

A No 10 spokesman said: "The Prime Minister raised the case of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and other British-Iranian dual nationals detained in Iran and demanded their immediate release.

"He said that while the removal of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe's ankle monitor was welcome, her continued confinement remains completely unacceptable and she must be allowed to return to her family in the UK.

Read more: Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has ankle tag removed following five-year detention in Iran

"The Prime Minister also stressed that while the UK remains committed to making the Iran nuclear deal a success, Iran must stop all its nuclear activity that breaches the terms of the JCPOA and come back into compliance.

"He stressed the importance of Iran seizing the opportunity presented by the United States' willingness to return to the deal if Iran comes back into compliance.

Lisa Nandy: 'Certainly possible' that Zaghari-Ratcliffe comes home

"The Prime Minister underlined the need for Iran to cease wider destabilising activity and be a positive force in the Gulf region."

Dual national Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 42, has been held in Iran since 2016, when she was sentenced to five years in prison over allegations, which she denies, of plotting to overthrow the Iranian government.

She was arrested at Tehran's Imam Khomeini airport while taking her young daughter Gabriella to see her parents in April 2016.

The charity worker, who was employed by the Thomson Reuters Foundation at the time of her arrest, strongly denies the charges and rights groups say she was jailed with no evidence and her trial was unfair.

More to follow...