Jeremy Hunt vows to do everything possible to free charity worker jailed in Iran

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt has pledged to do everything possible to secure the release of a charity worker jailed in Iran, after talks with her husband.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was sentenced to five years in prison in 2016 after being accused of spying.

Mr Hunt met the British-Iranian woman's husband, Richard Ratcliffe, on Thursday to discuss the "shocking and desperate" situation.

He said: "Good to meet Richard Ratcliffe and his family yesterday.

"It's a shocking and desperate situation and they are showing extraordinary strength and resilience, as is Nazanin. We will do everything we can to bring her home."

Former foreign secretary Boris Johnson faced criticism over his handling of attempts to free the mother-of-one.

In April, Mr Ratcliffe spoke of his disappointment at Mr Johnson's failure to secure his wife's release.

The former Cabinet minister faced a backlash for telling a parliamentary committee that Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe had been in Iran to train journalists, which he later acknowledged was not the case.

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who works for the Thomson Reuters Foundation, is facing a further hearing over an unspecified security charge which her family believes will include an accusation of spreading propaganda against Tehran's Islamist regime.

She has consistently denied all allegations, insisting she was on holiday to introduce her daughter to her family.