Husband of jailed Brit Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe says Boris Johnson needs to ‘stand up’ and help her out of Iran hell
Richard Ratcliffe, husband of jailed mum Nazanin, said the Foreign Secretary needed to be 'voice of Britain towards the Iranian government'
THE husband of jailed Brit Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has today called on Boris Johnson to "be her hero" to help free her in Iran.
Richard Ratcliffe said the Foreign Secretary needed to be the "voice of Britain towards the Iranian government" which oversaw her five-year sentence in 2016.
And he said he was "pleased that other people criticised" Boris after his blunder in parliament that threatened to add on another 16 years to her imprisonment.
Nazanin, 38, was arrested in Iran in April last year while visiting her family and jailed for training journalists – charges she strongly denies.
She was said to be “suicidal” after Mr Johnson incorrectly told MPs she had been in the country "teaching journalism". The Foreign Secretary later issued a firm correction and apologised.
Speaking on ITV's Loose Women on Friday, husband Richard said: "Boris Johnson needs to be Nazanin's hero, in simple terms.
"I was pleased that other people criticised him, pleased other people were pressuring him, but at the same time we met behind closed doors.
"It's important he is the voice of Britain towards to Iranian government.
"He needs to stand up and do what he can to bring her home."
Nazanin, who is suffering from PTSD in a women's political prison, is "up and down", Richard said.
He added: "Sometimes she's OK, sometime's she's awful — there's just tears."
She gets a visit two times a week from daughter Gabriella, three, who has stayed in Iran with relatives while her mum is in jail.
On Saturday Iranian state TV aired what it claimed was fresh evidence against Nazanin — including a pay slip from the BBC and an email about young journalists in the country.
Mr Ratcliffe said on Sunday the propaganda programme was "trying to justify the new charges".
Iran is believed to be holding out on Nazanin's release over an apparent outstanding bill of £400million for Chieftain tanks that were never delivered because of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
But a spokesman for Theresa May said: "We are clear we don’t see any link between these two issues".
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