Boris Johnson’s shocking gaffe could see British mum Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe jailed for an extra FIVE YEARS in Iran
Theresa May was urged to sack Boris Johnson after the Foreign Secretary wrongly claimed that Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was 'teaching journalism' when she was arrested in Iran
THERESA MAY was last night urged to sack Boris Johnson after a staggering blunder left a British mum facing an extra five years in an Iranian jail.
Furious MPs demanded action as relatives of dual British-Iran national Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe rounded on the Foreign Secretary.
Boris Johnson told a Commons Committee last week that the 37 year-old serving a sentence on spy charges had been working in Tehran training journalists.
Her entire defence has been that she was merely visiting relatives on holiday with her then 18 month old daughter.
Last night the Foreign Office insisted Mr Johnson had been trying to explain that “even the most extreme of unproven Iranian allegations” were insufficient to detain Nazanin.
The Foreign Secretary will now call Iran’s Foreign Minister to beg for her release on humanitarian grounds.
A Foreign Office spokesman said: “He will raise again his serious concerns about the case and ensure his remarks are not misrepresented.”
But Nazanin’s husband Richard Ratcliffe yesterday said there was a “direct link” between Mr Johnson’s comments and his wife being dragged to a court this weekend on new trumped charges of “propaganda against the regime”.
Iran even issued a statement over the weekend saying the Foreign Secretary’s words had “shed new light on the realities”.
Mr Ratcliffe said: “[Mr Johnson’s] misstep saying she was training journalists not that she was on holiday – contradicting what we have said all along – is being used for propaganda purposes to justify holding her.”
The PM’s official spokesman was yesterday forced to confirm Theresa May retained her “full confidence” in Mr Johnson.
But Labour blasted the Tory, saying he could no longer laugh off his lack of attention to detail. Labour MP Wes Streeting stormed: “We’ve all become accustomed to Boris Johnson’s foot in mouth syndrome, but as Foreign Secretary his words matter.
“This isn’t his first gaffe in recent months, but it looks as though his careless attitude will result in a longer prison sentence for an innocent British national.
“This is intolerable. He should be sacked.”
Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry last night stormed Boris Johnson should quit if Nazanin gets a further five year term - to “take full responsibility in both a moral and political sense”.
Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arrested last year at Tehran airport as she attempted to fly back to London. Her daughter Gabriella was taken from her and remains in Iran with the family.
She was held in solitary confinement for a month and sentenced to five years in prison in September for leading a “soft coup” against the state.
Iran’s Judiciary’s High Council for Human Rights on Sunday wrote: “[Mr Johnson’s] statement shows that Nazanin had visited the country for anything but a holiday.
“For months it was claimed that Nazanin is a British-Iranian charity worker who went to see her family when she was arrested.
“Mr Johnson’s statement has shed new light on the realities.”
The jailed Mother told her husband she was barely able to stand up when dragged in front of Iran’s harshest judge, Judge Salavati, on Sunday.
She told her husband: “I am on the verge of a nervous breakdown.”
