Boris Johnson admits Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe comments 'could have been clearer' as Brit faces extended jail spell

Foreign Secretary backpedals over remarks that could see teacher's sentence for briefing against Iranian government increased for up to ten years

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson (PA)

Boris Johnson has admitted he “could have been clearer” following botched comments that have left a British national facing a sentence in an Iranian jail of up to ten years.

The admission came as he furiously backpedalled over the comments about Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and following a call with the Iranian foreign minister in which he tried to clarify his words.

Mr Johnson said there is “no justifiable basis” for further legal action against Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe after Iranian officials cited comments in which he said Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe worked in Tehran teaching journalism as a reason to haul her in front of the courts and potentially increase her sentence.

The 38-year-old British woman was arrested and jailed for spreading propaganda with a central part of her defence being that she had never worked teaching journalists in Iran, but was merely there on holiday.

Mr Johnson is facing calls to quit after his gaffe in a select committee last week, with Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry accusing him of “ineptitude”, but Downing Street said on Tuesday that Theresa May still has “full confidence” in him.

Mr Johnson’s appearance at the committee hearing saw him insist Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe is innocent and condemn her treatment, but he then added “she was simply teaching people journalism as I understand it.”

Shortly after, she was taken before hardline judge Abolghassem Salavati, to be told there were new accusations against her, under a new charge of “spreading propaganda against the regime”

She was threatened with another five years in prison – on top of her existing five-year sentence.

The Iranian High Council’s website also now carries a story headlined “UK confirms Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was not in Iran for Holiday”, stating: “[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 about Nazanin, which has been strongly denied previously by both her family and Human Right activists such as [Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner] Shirin Ebadi.”

In his call with Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif, officials said Mr Johnson expressed concern at the suggestion from the Iranian Judiciary that his remarks “shed nee light” on the case.

The Foreign Secretary said this was absolutely not true, it was clear as it always had been that Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe had been in Iran on holiday when she was arrested.

The Foreign Secretary made clear that the point he had been seeking to make in his evidence was that he condemned the Iranian view that training journalists was a crime, not that he believed Iranian allegations that Ms 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 Ms 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 find a solution to the case on humanitarian grounds.