Johnson to voice ‘concerns’ for mum jailed in Iran

FOREIGN Secretary Boris Johnson will express “grave concerns” regarding jailed British mother Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe during his visit to Iran.

Mr Johnson’s trip to Tehran today is only the third by a UK Foreign Secretary since 2003 and comes at a time of tension in the Middle East over Donald Trump’s announcement that he is recognising Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

In wide-ranging talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, Mr Johnson will seek to shore up bilateral relations and urge Tehran to stick by the terms of its 2015 nuclear deal.

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe is serving a five-year sentence over allegations, which she denies, of plotting to overthrow the Tehran government, having been arrested in 2016 during a holiday visit to show her baby daughter, Gabriella, to her parents.

Reports suggest she could appear in court again tomorrow, following threats to increase her sentence by five years following Mr Johnson’s gaffe of telling a parliamentary committee that she had been in Iran to train journalists. He later acknowledged this was not the case.

Mr Johnson said he wanted the visit to Iran to be “constructive”.

He said: “Iran is a significant country in a strategically important, but volatile and unstable, region which matters to the UK’s security and prosperity.

“My first visit is an opportunity to hold further discussions on a series of crucial issues, including how we can find a political solution to the conflict in Yemen and secure greater access to ease the immense suffering there. I look forward to a constructive visit.”