THE husband of a British-Iranian mother detained in Iran for the past five years has said his wife “remains in harm’s way” and “in the middle of this government game of chess”.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 42 - whose sister-in-law Rebecca Ratcliffe is a GP in Cwmbran - has completed a near five-year sentence in the Islamic Republic over allegations of plotting to overthrow its government – charges which she vehemently denies.

The mother-of-one finished the latter part of her sentence under house arrest and had her ankle tag removed on Sunday – but must still appear before an Iranian court in a week’s time.

Her husband Richard Ratcliffe told the PA news agency in a message on Sunday that “it’s a mixed day for us” and “Nazanin is genuinely happy” to be free of her electronic bracelet.

He said: “I’m a bit more guarded. It feels to me like they have made one blockage just as they have removed another, and we very clearly remain in the middle of this government game of chess.”

He said he was “grateful” for the “strong words” of Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who earlier condemned the “cruel and intolerable” treatment of Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe and called for her swift return to the UK.

Mr Ratcliffe added: “She is having a nice afternoon, has turned her phone off and is not thinking about the rest of it.

“But she remains in harm’s way, even if today she is determined not to feel it.”

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, of north London, was arrested at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini Airport while taking her young daughter Gabriella to see her parents in April 2016.

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The charity worker, who was employed by the Thomson Reuters Foundation at the time of her arrest, strongly denies the charges and rights groups say she was jailed with no evidence and her trial was unfair.

Foreign Secretary Mr Raab said in a statement: “We welcome the removal of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s ankle tag, but Iran continues to put her and her family through a cruel and an intolerable ordeal.

“She must be released permanently so she can return to her family in the UK. We will continue to do all we can to achieve this.

“We have relayed to the Iranian authorities in the strongest possible terms that her continued confinement is unacceptable.”