Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe suspends hunger strike in Iranian prison

A British-Iranian woman jailed in Iran has ended a hunger strike after 15 days, according to her husband.  

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was put under serious pressure by authorities in the prison to end the strike, her husband Richard Ratcliffe told British state broadcaster BBC on Saturday.

Richard Ratcliffe had been camping outside Iran's embassy in London on a hunger strike in solidarity with his wife. The couple have a young daughter.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been held in an Iranian prison on espionage charges since 2016.

Iran's deputy foreign minister said last week that she will be required to serve her full five-year sentence, seemingly quashing hopes of an early release.

A dual British-Iranian citizen, she was arrested at Tehran's airport in April 2016 following a family visit in southern Iran.

The Thomson Reuters Foundation employee, now 41, was accused of espionage and sedition and sentenced to five years in prison in January 2018. She denies the charges.

Ratcliffe renewed his attacks on Tory leadership candidate Boris Johnson, who as foreign minister made the situation worse by telling parliament that Zaghari-Ratcliffe had trained journalists in Iran.

Johnson later apologised for his remarks.    (dpa)