Anger as Nazanin trial is called off

NAZANIN Zaghari-Ratcliffe is being used as a hostage in a ‘game of cat and mouse’ between Iran and Britain, her husband said yesterday.

The British-Iranian mother-of-one had expected to face a new trial yesterday but was told at the last moment that it had been postponed. No new date was given.

Her husband Richard Ratcliffe said the postponement was ‘deeply traumatic’, and his wife did not know if she would still have to stand trial. He added: ‘This remains a game of cat and mouse between governments, with us living life as a piece of bait.’

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 42, pictured, is serving a five-year sentence over allegations she plotted against the Iranian government. She denies the accusation.

Yesterday’s trial was due to hear charges about spreading anti-government propaganda, a ‘rehash’ of allegations made years ago, her supporters say.

Last week Boris Johnson described Iran’s decision to bring new charges against Mrs ZaghariRatcliffe as ‘indefensible and unacceptable’.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: ‘we welcome the deferral of this groundless court hearing, and call on Iran to make Nazanin’s release permanent so that she can return to her family in the UK.’

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe was initially imprisoned but was released to her parents’ home in Tehran in March, where she is held under house arrest and wears an ankle tag to monitor her movements.

Her six-year-old daughter Gabriella has not seen her for more than a year after she returned to Britain to start school last year.