Boris Johnson will visit Iran this weekend to plead for the release of jailed Brit Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe

BORIS JOHNSON is set to visit Iran this weekend to plead for the release of jailed British mum Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.

The Foreign Secretary has accused of making Nazanin’s plight worse by wrongly suggesting she was training journalists at the time she was arrested by the Iranian regime.

In a bid to get her out of the prison where she has been for 20 months, Mr Johnson arranged to visit the country for talks with senior ministers.

Tonight it was reported that his trip will take place over the coming weekend.

Boris is likely to meet with Iran’s foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who has previously hinted that he could take steps to help Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe.

He will also try to use Britain’s support for the Iran nuclear deal which Donald Trump has rejected as a bargaining chip to persuade the regime to show mercy to the British prisoner.

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a dual citizen of the UK and Iran, was arrested in April last year while visiting relatives in the country.

She was sentenced to five years in prison for allegedly plotting to overthrow the Islamic regime - despite there being no credible evidence against her.

Last month, Mr Johnson told MPs Mrs Zaghari Ratcliffe had been “teaching people journalism, as I understand it, at the very limit”.

Iran’s hardline judiciary used his comments as an excuse to slap new charges on Nazanin, accusing her of spreading anti-regime propaganda.

Boris has since withdrawn his remarks and met with the British mum’s husband Richard Ratcliffe.