Boris Johnson will travel to Iran to seek Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s release

Boris Johnson will travel to Tehran this weekend in a bid to have British woman Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe released from the prison in which she has been held for the past two years.

“The Foreign Secretary is expected to appeal for her release on humanitarian grounds rather than fight for Iran to acknowledge her innocence of spying charges,” The Times says.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who is serving a five-year sentence for plotting to overthrow the Iranian government, is due to appear in court on a second set of charges that could result in her prison term extended by another 10 years.

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“Johnson has insisted that the second set of charges laid against her are not related to his error last month in telling the foreign affairs select committee in Westminster that she had been in Iran to train journalists,” The Guardian says.

Richard Ratcliffe welcomed Johnson's trip to Iran, saying: “I think the Foreign Secretary's visit is essential - making clear that Nazanin matters.”

Johnson is also expected to try to settle a long-running dispute about the non-delivery of Chieftain tanks ordered by Tehran in the 1970s.

Iran is demanding a £400m compensation payment, and also wants the British government to encourage more economic engagement with the country.

“Some western banks, including in London, are understood to be wary of falling foul of separate sanctions the United States kept in place despite lifting nuclear-related measures in 2016,” the Daily Telegraph reports.