London (CNN) A British-Iranian woman who has been jailed in Iran since 2016 began a hunger strike Monday in a desperate attempt to receive medical treatment, as her husband said that prison guards had asked her to spy on the UK in return for her freedom.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 40, started the three-day hunger strike in a bid to see a specialist for lumps in her breasts and numbness in her limbs, her husband, Richard Ratcliffe, told a press conference in London.

He added that his wife, whose emotional health has severely deteriorated since her arrest more than two years ago, was "pushed to the edge" after members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard entered her room just after Christmas and made her an offer.

"They tried to push her to become a spy for Iran in the UK," he said.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe was visiting Iran in April 2016 with her then-22-month-old daughter, Gabriella, when she was arrested at Tehran's Imam Khomeini airport.

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