Iran told: Free Brit mum for girl’s birthday
MINISTERS have asked Iran to temporarily free a British mum jailed for spying so she can see her daughter on her fourth birthday.
Middle East Minister Alistair Burt said the Government was doing all it could to have Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 39, released.
He told MPs measures included “requesting a temporary furlough so she can indeed celebrate Gabriella’s birthday”. The girl was with Nazanin when she was arrested in 2016.
The move came after Nazanin was charged with a new offence of spreading propaganda.
Shadow Foreign Office Minister Fabian Hamilton blasted ministers for not formally calling for the British-Iranian dual national’s release and asked: “Isn’t this the lowest possible expectation a British citizen can make from their Government?”
Richard Ratcliffe, who was in the House of Commons gallery yesterday, has said his wife had been told to expect another conviction over the new “invented” charge.