Iran postpones new trial of Zaghari-Ratcliffe: UK MP

A new trial of British-Iranian dual national Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe in Tehran has been adjourned, her MP in London said on Monday.

Lawmaker Tulip Siddique tweeted that she had spoken to Zaghari-Ratcliffe's husband Richard, who confirmed the trial in the Iranian capital had been adjourned.

"Spoke to Nazanin's husband Richard just now. She was taken to court, but trial was adjourned before she could put forward a defence," she wrote.

No date was given for Zaghari-Ratcliffe's next hearing but she has not been returned to prison and instead returned to her parents' home, where she had been under house arrest since March 2020, Siddique added. 

Richard Ratcliffe has campaigned for his wife's release since she was arrested in April 2016 while visiting relatives with their young daughter.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who worked for the Thomson Reuters Foundation - the media organisation's philanthropic arm -
- denied charges of sedition.

But she was convicted and jailed for five years. She has spent more than four years in jail or under house arrest since the start of her detention.

Read more: Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe files harassment claim against Iran's Revolutionary Guards

Siddique said a representative of the UK government had not been present during court proceedings in Tehran and described the Iranian authorities' action against Zaghari-Ratcliffe as "mental torture".

"My constituent's safety is my top priority - these mind games must be stopped," she added.