Husband of charity worker held in Iran claims his wife is being used as a 'bargaining chip'

Video report by ITV News Correspondent Duncan Golestani

The husband of a British charity worker detained in Iran has told ITV News his wife is being used as a "bargaining chip".

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been held in an Iranian prison for more than three months, but her husband Richard Ratcliffe has only recently been able to speak to her on the phone.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard had previously alleged Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe had participated in the "design and implementation of cyber and media projects to cause the soft toppling of the Islamic Republic" - an allegation which Mr Ratcliffe reacted to with "shock and horror".

Speaking of the moment he spoke to his wife for the first time, he said:

Richard Ratcliffe said his wife is being used as a bargaining chip. Credit: Richard Ratcliffe
Charity worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe with her husband and daughter. Credit: Richard Ratcliffe

Nazanin had been visiting family in Iran when she was stopped at the airport. Her daughter Gabriella was taken away and is now with grandparents in Tehran.

On Monday she was indicted on undisclosed charges and her family were sent a message by the country's Revolutionary Guard saying Britain should agree to an unspecified deal.

The Foreign Office said it has raised the case "repeatedly and at the highest levels" and will "continue to do so at every opportunity".

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been in an Iranian prison for more than three months. Credit: Richard Ratcliffe