Conservative MP suggests partial responsibility for #FreeNazanin campaign

A Conservative MP has suggested that he is in part responsible for the campaign to free Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe from detention in Iran.

Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe touched down in the UK this morning after being released by Iranian authorities yesterday.

It came after the UK told Iran it would paid its £400 m debt to the country, stressing that it would be “ring-fenced solely for the purchase of humanitarian goods”.

Chair of the Commons’ defence committee, Tobias Ellwood, claimed that he suggested her husband, encouraged Richard Ratcliffe, kickstart a public campaign to push for his wife’s release.

The UK government advises against public campaigns regarding those detained in Iran.

The Bournemouth East MP told Times Radio this afternoon: “I privately encouraged him to make the case to go public, to make sure that people are more aware of what’s going on.”

“That is the default position of the Foreign Office…to say please don’t go public as you lose control of the agenda… But we privately agreed, actually, this is getting more momentum, partly because of this wider geopolitical picture that we’re speaking about.”