Iran has claimed Britain will settle a £400m arms debt to free Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe – however her husband mentioned he has heard ‘nothing about it’.
An nameless official informed Iranian state tv that prisoners held in Iran with Western ties will be freed after the nation struck offers with Britain and the US.
Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 43, who has been held in Iran since 2016, will be launched after cost of a “navy debt”, based on native stories.
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It pertains to an unfulfilled £400m navy contract, signed in 1979, for Britain to provide 1,500 tanks.
Dominic Raab, the international secretary, mentioned Iran’s remedy of Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe “quantities to torture”.
“Nazanin is held unlawfully, for my part, as a matter of worldwide regulation. I believe she’s being handled in probably the most abusive, tortuous method,” he informed BBC’s The Andrew Marr Show on Sunday.
The Foreign Office downplayed Iran’s deal claim and mentioned it “will not remark additional as authorized discussions are ongoing”.
Richard Ratcliffe, who believes Tehran is utilizing his spouse as a bargaining chip, mentioned he was not conscious of the deal.
He mentioned: “We haven’t heard something. It’s in all probability an excellent signal that it’s being signalled, simply as final week’s sentence was a nasty signal. But it feels a part of the negotiations relatively than the tip of them.”
Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a charity employee from West Hampstead, north-west London, was jailed for 5 years on spying expenses, which she has at all times denied. She served the ultimate 12 months of her sentence underneath home arrest at her dad and mom’ residence in Tehran.
But the mother-of-one was hauled again to courtroom in April and convicted of propaganda towards the regime.
She was sentenced to additional one 12 months in jail and served with a one-year journey ban.
Meanwhile, it was claimed the US has agreed to a prisoner swap in trade for £5bn held in frozen funds.
Officials in Washington mentioned stories a deal has been reached are “not true”.
