Boris Johnson confronts Iran’s foreign minister over jailed British mum Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe
BORIS JOHNSON today confronted Iran's foreign minister over the case of jailed British mother Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.
The Foreign Secretary met Mohammad Javad Zarif in Brussels - where he demanded the release of the suffering mum.
Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, from North London, has spent nearly two years in prison after she was wrongly accused of plotting to overthrow the Iranian regime.
Boris risked prolonging her agony when he suggested last year she had been teaching journalism - in fact she was only visiting relatives in the country.
The Foreign Secretary has brought up the case with Mr Zarif twice before.
The pair spoke on the phone in November, and met in Tehran when Mr Johnson visited Iran last month.
Today he teamed up with the EU's foreign policy chief and the foreign ministers of France and Germany for talks with Mr Zarif.
The main topic of discussion was the deal aimed at forcing Iran to give up its ambitions to build deadly nukes.
Mr Johnson tweeted after the summit: "Raised all our Iranian dual-national consular cases and the treatment of BBC Persian with @JZarif - UK continues to press for the observation of human rights and press freedom in Iran."
But he did not mention Nazanin's case during a press conference which immediately followed the get-together.
Boris had said before the meeting: "The UK has always been clear - the Iran nuclear deal is a crucial agreement that makes the world safer.
";It is vital that we continue to work with our European partners to preserve the Iran deal, and with it the security and prosperity it is bringing to the people of Iran and the world.
"I will be making it clear to foreign minister Zarif, on the subject of the recent protests in Iran, that the right to peaceful demonstration within the law is central to any truly thriving society.
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";I will also raise all of our Iranian dual-national consular cases."
Former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw recently visited Iran and blasted the country's politicians of Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's case.
Her husband Richard Ratcliffe said in the wake of Mr Straw's trip that he was "more positive" than last year but admitted he may have to relaunch full-scale campaigning to secure his wife's release.