Fears grow for mother jailed in Iran
● Environment Secretary says he doesn’t know why detained Briton was in Iran ● Johnson makes first call to husband
Fears were growing last night for the health of a British mother imprisoned in Iran as Environment Secretary Michael Gove was attacked for casting doubt over her actions in the country.
Nazanin Zaghari-ratcliffe has seen a medical specialist after finding lumps on her breasts and is “on the verge of a nervous breakdown”, her husband Richard said.
Mr Gove was accused by Labour opponents of bungling after saying he did not know what she was doing in Iran.
Fears were growing last night for the health of a British woman imprisoned in Iran as Environment Secretary Michael Gove came under fire for saying he did not know what she had been doing in the country.
Nazanin Zaghari-ratcliffe has seen a medical specialist after finding lumps on her breasts and is “on the verge of a nervous breakdown”, her husband Richard said.
The mother of one has also “expressed anger” at Boris Johnson over the “shambles” her case has become but her family said they did not believe the Foreign Secretary should quit.
Mrs Zaghari-ratcliffe was detained last April while on holiday and accused of trying to topple the regime in Tehran.
Mr Johnson has been heavily criticised for making remarks that were seized on by the Iranian authorities to justify its threats to extend her sentence.
The country’s state TV broadcaster claimed the Foreign Secretary’s suggestion that Mrs Zaghari-ratcliffe was “training journalists” in Iran at the time of her arrest amounted to an “unintended admission” of her guilt.
Mr Ratcliffe said he spoke to Mr Johnson for about 20 minutes yesterday morning, during which the Cabinet minister said he was “deeply sorry for Nazanin’s suffering”.
In a statement, he also described his wife’s state of mind, saying she “again suggested she is on the verge of a nervous breakdown”.
The statement said: “She noted that she is very down, that she cannot handle all this. It is too much pressure as she becomes part of hostile daily news.”
The Environment Secretary was accused by Labour of bungling after saying he did not know what Mrs Zaghari-ratcliffe was doing in Iran. Asked why she was in the country, Mr Gove told BBC One’s The Andrew Marr Show: “I don’t know. One of the things I want to stress is there is no reason why Nazanin Zaghari-ratcliffe should be in prison in Iran so far as any of us know.”
Mr Gove also defended Mr Johnson, warning that it would be a “big mistake” to focus attention on his Cabinet colleague. He said: “There is an effort, somehow, to shift attention and direction away from who is really at fault here and it is the Iranian regime.”
Mr Johnson has also brought forward a meeting with Mr Ratcliffe. He is set to meet him in the next fortnight before a visit to Iran. He told the Commons he was “sorry if any words of mine have been taken out of context”, but has not admitted to making a mistake or worsening Mrs Z ag hari rat c li ffe’ sp light.
“There is an effort to shift attention and direction away from who is really at fault and it is the regime”