Jailed London mother told to 'expect conviction' by Iran judge on new spy claim

A British woman jailed in Iran after being convicted of spying has been told to expect another conviction after appearing in court over a new "invented" charge, her husband has said.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 39, who was arrested and jailed in 2016, appeared in court on Saturday, accused of spreading propaganda against Tehran's hardline Islamist regime.

The 39-year-old British-Iranian dual national, from Hampstead, north London, is serving a five-year sentence over allegations, which she denies, of plotting to overthrow the Tehran government.

Her husband, Richard Ratcliffe, said the mother-of-one had again denied committing any crime, and appealed for clemency and freedom so that she might be able to have a second child. But Mr Ratcliffe said:

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who works for the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of the news agency, was arrested at Tehran Airport in April 2016 while with her then baby daughter Gabriella.

She was later jailed for five years but has consistently denied the charges against her, insisting that the trip was a holiday to introduce her daughter to her Iranian family.

The Free Nazanin Campaign said that on Sunday Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been able to telephone the British ambassador to Iran for the first time in more than two years.