Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the British-Iranian woman serving a five-year jail sentence in Iran, has reached “the end of her patience” in the absence of any diplomatic progress to bring her home, according to her husband.

The UK foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, said in a radio interview this morning that Zaghari-Ratcliffe, was facing a “totally appalling” situation. But Hunt said he had yet to make a decision to grant her diplomatic protection, which has been demanded by Richard Ratcliffe in order to escalate his wife’s case from a consular issue to a state matter.

“I think our priority has to be to do the right thing to get Nazanin out,” Hunt told BBC Radio 4. “We’ve been going to this issue in an enormous amount of detail over the last few weeks, I haven’t come to a final decision on that,” he added, referring to the request about diplomatic protection.



“This is a totally appalling situation, it should never be possible that someone can be detained like this without any due reason. For three years now, poor Nazanin has been in prison, so we have to do everything we can.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Undated family handout photo of jailed British mother Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe with her husband Richard Ratcliffe and their daughter Gabriella. Photograph: Family Handout/PA

Ratciffe said he spoke to his wife by telephone on Tuesday morning. “She’s definitely got to the end of her patience, probably has been since June when she wasn’t allowed on furlough for Gabriella’s birthday,” he told the Guardian, referring to the birthday of their daughter who remains separated from Nazanin and is in the care of her mother’s family in Iran.



“In Iran, because of the Eid, there has been some positive noises about furlough, but nothing has happened. It’s double-edged because the family can hold on to hope, but obviously they can get very low if that doesn’t happen,” he said.



Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arrested in April 2016 at Tehran airport when she and her then 22-month-old daughter, Gabriella, were about to return to the UK after a family visit. During her first trial, she was accused of running “a BBC Persian online journalism course” and seeking a “soft overthrow” of Iran.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A photo of Richard Ratcliffe and his wife Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who has been jailed in Iran, on display at their home in London. Photograph: Family handout/PA

According to Ratcliffe, his wife has been told by judges in court that her case was related to a sum of money the UK government owes to Tehran in connection with a four-decade legal dispute over hundreds of Chieftain tanks Iran bought from the UK in 1976. The British government admits it owes Iran up to £400m, but the countries have wrangled over the precise sum and the interest Tehran wants over the delayed payment.



Iran is frustrated that the UK government has so far refused to pay back its debt, despite a ruling from The Hague requiring London to do so. Governments in London and Tehran have both denied that Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s case is linked to the money the International Military Services (IMS), then a subsidiary of the Ministry of Defence, has to pay Iran. The UK’s refusal to pay back the debt results in more interests accumulating, which will ultimately has to be paid by the UK taxpayer.



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Iran is concerned that linking the debt to Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s case would make her imprisonment look like a hostage situation, whereas the UK is wary of the debt payback being seen as ransom paid for her release, even though the money is Iran’s regardless. The UK has a policy of not paying ransom.



The foreign office is also believed to be worried that paying back the debt might violate existing sanctions against Iran’s arms forces. The Guardian understands that Iran is open to consider receiving the debt in the form of medicine, which is not subject to sanctions, if her case is pursued on humanitarian grounds. But it was not clear if the UK government has offered to pay in alternative ways.

Richard Ratcliffe said his meeting with the foreign secretary on Monday – the second since Hunt took over the Foreign Office after Boris Johnson’s resignation – was positive, but he didn’t get the answers he was hoping for.



“Positive in that he was warm, he was sincere. In our last meeting two weeks ago, we’ve given him a stone,” he said, referring to Johnson’s promise that he would leave no stone unturned in her case. “This is a symbol of that promise, and he put the stone next to the picture of his family, to try to show that we really care.”

Hunt, who was speaking before departing for Washington, said the UK still supported the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

“Our concern is if the agreement is completely torn up, we could see the election of a more radical government in Iran that could end up being more dangerous and that’s why we’re very open with our American friends that we have a different view on the utility of this particular agreement,” he said.