Iran menaces Nazanin over contact with embassy

 Iran threatened to “harm” the family of Nazanin Zaghari-ratcliffe if she tried to contact the British Embassy during her temporary release from prison, it has emerged.

The British-iranian mother, who was arrested in April 2016 on charges of spying and later sentenced to five years in jail, was released for three days last month to spend time with her four-year-old daughter.

Tulip Siddiq, her local MP, disclosed in Parliament yesterday: “When she was on furlough, she was contacted by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and told that if she attempted to contact the British Embassy, her family would be harmed.” She added: “I find it deeply troubling that a British citizen was threatened against contacting her own embassy.”

Ms Zaghari-ratcliffe denies the allegations against her, and Richard Ratcliffe, her husband, has campaigned tirelessly for her release.

Ms Siddiq asked Theresa May to raise the matter with Hassan Rouhani, Iran’s president, when she attends the UN General Assembly in New York later this month. The Prime Minister said she “shared the concerns” of the Labour MP, but added: “One of the difficulties is the question of whether the Iranian government recognise dual nationality, which they do not. They are not obliged to do so under international law. She asks me to raise this matter with President Rouhani. I regularly do so whenever I speak to him. It is an issue that the Foreign Secretary, the Foreign Office and other ministers also consistently raise with the Iranian government, and we will continue to do so.”