UK summons Iranian ambassador over imprisoned British-Iranian aid worker

Britain says Iran's treatment of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is 'unjustified and unacceptable'

FILE PHOTO: Iranian-British aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is seen in an undated photograph handed out by her family. Ratcliffe Family Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
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The UK government summoned the Iranian ambassador on Thursday after news that imprisoned British-Iranian aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is to be recalled to court in Iran, the Foreign Office said.

British authorities conveyed their grave concerns to Hamid Baeidinejad and called for Iran to end Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe's arbitrary detention.

"We have made it clear to the Iranian ambassador that his country's treatment of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is unjustified and unacceptable, and is causing an enormous amount of distress," the Foreign Office said.

A project manager with the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the dual national was arrested in April 2016 at Tehran airport as she prepared to fly back to Britain with her daughter after a family visit.

She was sentenced to five years in jail after being convicted of plotting to overthrow Iran's clerical establishment.

Her family and the foundation deny the charge.

Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe was temporarily released from jail in March in response to concerns about the spread of Covid-19 in Iran's prisons but her movement is restricted and she is barred from leaving the country.

She was told of a new charge in September, Iranian state television reported.