THE sister-in-law of a British-Iranian mother-in-one, currently imprisoned on espionage charges, has called on the foreign secretary to retract his untrue comments about her visit.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and her young daughter Gabriella were detained at an airport in Tehran as they planned to return to Britain on April 3, 2016.

Last week, Boris Johnson told the Foreign Affairs Committee (FAC) that Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who works for the charity Reuters Thompson, the charitable arm of the news agency, had been training journalists.

Cwmbran GP Rebecca Ratcliffe added that the family were initially pleased that the foreign secretary condemned the Iranian’s actions, before the comment was made.

“Last Wednesday, we knew that Boris Johnson had spoken at the foreign affairs committee and in fact he actually condemned in public for the first time the actions of Iran which was really great,” said Dr Ratcliffe, who lives in Marshfield.

“He added that plans were in place for him to go out there to visit Nazanin in Iran and again we thought this was very positive.

“He did say however that she had been training journalists, which is not true.

“We thought that was just a slip of the tongue.”

Dr Ratcliffe’s brother Richard, Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s husband, called the family to inform them that Mr Johnson’s comments were being used against her.

She said: “Then Richard called the family to say that he had spoken with Nazanin on the Saturday and she had been called into court again.

“She was called before the judge who has presided over a number of high profile and notorious sentences, and we understand he is known for being harsh.

“She was not allowed to speak during the sentence and she was told that her sentence had been doubled, as the Iranians were using the foreign secretary’s comments as proof that she was being deceitful.

“She was accused of ‘engaging in propaganda against the regime’.

“This was picked up by the Iranian media, who again were citing the comments of Boris Johnson.”

A Foreign Office spokesperson said: “The foreign secretary called the Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif this morning to discuss the case of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.

“He reiterated his anxiety about the continued suffering of Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe and her family, and hoped a solution would be reached soon.

"The foreign secretary expressed concern at the suggestion from the Iranian Judiciary High Council for Human Rights that his remarks last week at the Foreign Affairs Committee 'shed new light' on the case.

“The foreign secretary said this was absolutely not true. It was clear, as it always had been, that Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe had been in Iran on holiday when arrested.

“The foreign secretary made clear that the point he had been seeking to make in his evidence to the FAC was that he condemned the Iranian view that training journalists was a crime, not that he believed Iranian allegations that Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe had been engaged in such activity.

"The foreign secretary concluded by emphasising that his remarks could form no justifiable basis for further action in this case and urged the Iranian authorities to release Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe on humanitarian grounds.

"He set out his intention to visit Iran before the end of the year to discuss the case further.

"Mr Zarif said that the developments in the case over the weekend were unrelated to the foreign secretary's remarks and that he remained committed to working with the foreign secretary to finding a resolution to the case on humanitarian grounds.

“The foreign secretary accepts his remarks to the Foreign Affairs Committee could have been clearer on this aspect. He intends to update the House this afternoon.”

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, whose daughter Gabriella is currently living with her grandparents in Tehran, had her appeal rejected earlier in the year.

Dr Ratcliffe added that the family are now hopeful that her sister-in-law and niece could be home for Christmas.

“We feel that Nazanin is being used as a pawn in this international dispute and her Britishness is part of that,” she said.

“We need the Iranians to see that this was just a woman going to visit Iran with her young daughter for Nowruz, something which thousands of Iranians do year-on-year.

“We would like the foreign secretary to retract his comments as she was just there on holiday, celebrating the Iranian new year.

“Nazanin was due to apply for early release on November 23 as Iranian law states that after a prisoner has served a certain sentence, they can apply for early release.

“There are high hopes in the family that she and Gabriella will be home for Christmas.”