Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe avoids jail after court hearing in Iran where she faced new charges

Free Nazanin Campaign handout photo of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the Britsh-Iranian woman jailed in Iran

Credit: Free Nazanin campaign

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has not been sent back to prison in Iran, as her family had feared last week, following a court hearing on Monday where she faced fresh charges of “spreading propaganda.”

Tulip Siddiq, the British-Iranian dual citizen’s MP, wrote on Twitter: "Spoke to Nazanin’s husband Richard just now. She was taken to court, but trial was adjourned before she could put forward a defence.” 

She added: “No date for next hearing, but also no prison & she is back home with her parents."

Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who has been detained in Iran on dubious spying charges since 2016, had been warned to pack a bag for prison when she was ordered to return to the court on Monday.

According to Iranian media reports, the additional charge faced by Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe is "spreading propaganda," an accusation that the British government says is unwarranted.

Ms Siddiq added that the UK government did not attend the court hearing. "The mental torture continues. My constituent’s safety is my top priority — these mind games must be stopped," she said. 

Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe is now back under house arrest at her parents’ home in Tehran, with no date for the next court hearing, according to the Labour MP for Hampstead and Kilburn.

Richard Ratcliffe, husband of imprisoned charity worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, poses for the media during an Amnesty International led vigil outside the Iranian Embassy in London

Credit: Alastair Grant/AP

Dominic Raab, the UK Foreign Secretary, had warned last week that Iran would undermine efforts to improve its relations with Britain if Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe were returned to prison.

"If Nazanin is returned to prison that will of course put our discussions and the basis of those discussions in a totally different place," he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

"It is entirely unacceptable, it is entirely unwarranted, it is totally unjustified."

In response to the hearing on Monday Richard Ratcliffe, Nazanin’s husband, said he believed Mr Raab’s comments had deterred Iranian authorities from returning her to prison.

"This is a good first step, but it is not enough," he said. "The use of the court process as a negotiating tactic by the Revolutionary Guard remains deeply traumatic for Nazanin and the rest of us. We await the next escalation. We do not expect it to be kind."

On Thursday, Iranian ambassador Hamid Baeidinejad was summoned to a meeting at the Foreign Office, where he was told of the UK’s "grave concern" at the development.

It has been speculated that Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe is being held by Iran as leverage to recoup a 1970s-era tank debt of some £400m, but Mr Raab has said that the two issues are not linked.