Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the British mother jailed in Iran was allowed to meet with her daughter on her 40th birthday.

Four-year-old Gabriella, who has been staying in Iran with family, said she “wished her mum was free” as the pair shared cake in jail, her father Richard Ratcliffe said.

He added that Nazanin had been involved a “long battle” with prison authorities over recent months about health matters.

His wife, he said, had found “some lumps in her breasts again” but claimed access to an oncologist has been blocked.

The charity worker was sentenced to five years in jail in 2016 after being accused of spying – a charge she vehemently denies.

Mr Ratcliffe has mounted a high-profile campaign for his wife’s release and has worked with foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt to secure her release.

“Yesterday Gabriella was allowed in and Nazanin was able to make a small cake which they could celebrate with, and Gabriella cut the cake and wished her mum be free,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

Mr Ratcliffe had earlier thanked all those who had supported the campaign to get his wife freed in a video message recorded by The Independent.

He admitted: “Christmas is a tough time for us, particularly this year. It is Nazanin’s 40th, which has loomed large as a landmark. Also, two days later it will be her 1,000th day in prison, which is a very long time to be stuck in a prison cell for something you haven’t done.”

Wearing the scarf his wife knitted for him while in jail in Christmas 2017, Mr Ratcliffe revealed: “This year she is pretty low. A year ago we were sure she would be out before Christmas this year, [but] she’s stuck in a prison cell again.”

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe – in pictures Show all 20 1 /20 Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe – in pictures Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe – in pictures 2018 Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe hugs her daughter Gabriella, in Iran after she was allowed to leave the Iranian prison, she is being held in, for three days. Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arrested during a holiday with her toddler daughter in April 2016. Iranian authorities accuse her of plotting against the government. Her family denies this, saying says she was in Iran to visit family. Free Nazanin Campaign/AP Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe – in pictures Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe with her husband Richard Ratcliffe and their daughter Gabriella. Nazanin is serving a five-year prison sentence for allegedly plotting to overthrow Iran's government. PA Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe – in pictures June 2016 Richard Ratcliffe's daughter Gabriella had her British passport confiscated and was stranded in Iran with her grandparents after her mother Nazanin was jailed. He left left a giant birthday card on the doorstep of the Iranian embassy in central London to mark her second birthday in June 2016. PA Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe – in pictures Nazanin has spent some of her prison sentence in solitary confinement. PA Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe – in pictures Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe with her husband Richard and daughter Gabriella. Family Handout Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe – in pictures July 2016 Richard Ratcliffe delivering a letter of petition with his mother Barbara Ratcliffe and MP Tulip Siddiq, to 10, Downing Street on the 100th day of her detention, on July 12, 2016. Getty Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe – in pictures Supporters of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe held a vigil outside the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to mark her 707 days in captivity. Getty Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe – in pictures January 2017 Richard Ratcliffe holds a '#Free Nazanin' sign and candle during a vigil for for wife on January 16, 2017. The vigil, being held outside the Iranian Embassy in London marks one year since the Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian and other US-Iranian dual-nationals were released from prison in Iran. Getty Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe – in pictures Nazanin with her daughter Gabriella before they were detained by Iranian authorities. Change.org Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe – in pictures September 2017 Gabriella, who is three-years-old in this picture, has now spent two years away from her mother. Richard Ratcliffe Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe – in pictures November 2017 Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson meets with Richard Ratcliffe over Nazanin's case. They meet just days after Johnson told a parliamentary committee that she was in Iran "training journalists". WPA Pool/Getty Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe – in pictures November 2017 Actor Emma Thompson braved pneumonia to support Richard Ratcliffe in leading demonstrators before a march in support of Nazanin in November. Reuters Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe – in pictures November 2017 Richard Ratcliffe after the march said: 'It is profoundly moving to see so many people here.' REUTERS Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe – in pictures November 2017 A picture of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe shown on Iranian state TV as part of a report that made fresh allegations against her. They said she had been recruiting for banned broadcast services, as well as 'opposition cyber teams'. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe – in pictures December 2017 Iranian president Hassan Rouhani greets British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson at the presidential office in Tehran, Iran. Johnson visited Tehran to discuss the fate of detained Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe. EPA Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe – in pictures Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe with her daughter Gabriella. PA Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe – in pictures December 2017 Photos of Richard Ratcliffe and his wife Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe on display at their home in north London. Mr Ratcliffe said he believed there was "still a chance" she may be released from an Iranian prison in time for a dream Christmas together. Unfortunately that didn't happen. PA Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe – in pictures February 2018 Richard Ratcliffe delivers a petition and a letter addressed to the Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi to demand her release, at the Iranian Embassy in London on February 21, 2018. He also left support letters for his spouse in the country's embassy, amid a visit by a deputy foreign minister. AFP/Getty Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe – in pictures August 2018 Foreign Secretary, Jeremy Hunt meeting Richard Ratcliffe. Hunt has pledged to do everything possible to secure the release of a charity worker jailed in Iran Jeremy Hunt/PA Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe – in pictures August 2018 Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe hugs her daughter Gabriella, in Iran after she was allowed to leave the Iranian prison, she is being held in, for three days. Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arrested during a holiday with her toddler daughter in April 2016. Iranian authorities accuse her of plotting against the government. Her family denies this, saying says she was in Iran to visit family. PA

In a separate birthday message, Mr Hunt said Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who works for the Thomson Reuters Foundation, was the victim of a “great injustice”.

“Happy 40th birthday Nazanin! Thinking of you and your family this Boxing Day,” he wrote on Twitter. “If the thoughts and prayers of a whole nation can make a difference to you and other innocent people detained in Iran then this will be last birthday you will be suffering such a great injustice.”

Mr Hunt pressed his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Zarif, about her case in September when they met in New York on the fringes of a United Nations General Assembly.

The month before, she had been granted a three-day release but her request for an extension was denied and she was forced to say goodbye to Gabriella and return to jail.

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Amnesty International said Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s birthday will inevitably be a “day of anguish” rather than a day of celebration, and has called on the UK Government to use “every channel of communication available to it” in its efforts to secure her release.

Kate Allen, Amnesty International UK’s director, said: “Her birthday will be yet another painful moment for Nazanin and her family. What should have been a day of celebration for Nazanin will once again be a day of anguish – her third birthday behind bars. Despite everything, we send Nazanin our warmest wishes.

“Nazanin is a prisoner of conscience who should never have been jailed in the first place.”