British mum Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been handed another year behind bars and banned from leaving Iran.
The 42-year-old was found guilty of propaganda activities against the regime on Monday and sentenced by an Iranian Revolutionary Court.
Her husband, who lived and studied in Edinburgh, has tirelessly campaigned for her to be allowed to fly home, the Mirror reports.
He said the latest sentence was a bad sign and "clearly a negotiating tactic" by the Iranian authorities amid discussions to revive Iran's nuclear deal.
She has not yet been summoned to prison, he told the BBC, but her lawyer stated that they planned to appeal the prison term.
Boris Johnson said that the UK Government will be “working very hard” to secure Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's release, while her MP described it as "abusive use of her" as a "bargaining chip".
Last month, the British-Iranian aid worker completed a five-year sentence in Tehran on widely refuted spying charges.
Hopes that she could finally return to Britain were dashed by the announcement of a new court case involving allegations of propaganda, which, like the accusations of espionage, she denied.
After the hearing, her lawyer Hojjat Kermani announced she had been sentenced to one year in prison and also banned from leaving Iran for a year.
The lawyer said he would appeal the sentence.
Mr Kermani said: "Nazanin Zaghari was sentenced to one year in prison and one year ban from leaving the country on charges of propaganda against the Islamic Republic."
The propaganda charge related to Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s alleged attendance at a rally outside Iran's embassy in London in 2009, when the regime was cracking down on protesters following a disputed presidential election, and an interview she is said to have given to the BBC Persian service.
After the hearing, Mr Johnson said that the Government will be “working very hard” to secure her release.
The Prime Minister told reporters during a visit to Wrexham in North Wales: “Obviously we will have to study the detail of what the Iranian authorities are saying.
“I don’t think it is right at all that Nazanin should be sentenced to any more time in jail.
“I think it is wrong that she is there in the first place and we will be working very hard to secure her release from Iran, her ability to return to her family here in the UK, just as we work for all our dual national cases in Iran.
“The Government will not stop, we will redouble our efforts, and we are working with our American friends on this issue as well.”
Her MP Tulip Siddiq, who represents Hampstead and Kilburn, wrote on Twitter: “Thank you for all the messages regarding Nazanin.
"Absolutely devastating news and shocking that her husband was only just notified.
"Another abusive use of her as a bargaining chip. I’m speaking to the family & will update when I know more.”
At a hearing in March, Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe made a personal statement in court, where she clarified she did not accept the charge and highlighted the accusations and evidence were already part of her trial in 2016, when she was first jailed.
The 20-minute hearing was a continuation of a trial that was adjourned in November, on charges originally brought in 2017.
After completing her five-year sentence, Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe faced further uncertainty as she waited for the outcome of the second court case.
The Brit spent the last year of her sentence under house arrest at her parents' home due to the pandemic.
In March, Foreign Secretary condemned Iran’s decision to continue with a “wholly arbitrary” new case against Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe as “unacceptable and unjustifiable”.
He said the mum-of-one must be allowed to return to the UK without further delay.
Mr Raab said at the time: “It is unacceptable and unjustifiable that Iran has chosen to continue with this second, wholly arbitrary, case against Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.
“The Iranian government has deliberately put her through a cruel and inhumane ordeal.
“Nazanin must be allowed to return to her family in the UK without further delay. We continue to do all we can to support her.”
After the court hearing in March, Mr Ratcliffe said his wife’s future was still uncertain, but that she was “relieved” it was her last trial.
He has called on the UK Government to do more to help her while she is in Iran and to secure her return to the UK.
He said: “I think the judge saying this is the last trial is just a nice feeling – I think it is a bit like you’ve done an exam, it was horrible, you don’t know whether you passed or not, but at least it is done and there’s just a relief that comes with that.
“And she’s done that and she’s gone off out for lunch with her mum and her sister which she hasn’t been able to do for a long time.”
Many have linked Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's case to a long-standing debt.
The UK is thought to owe Iran as much as £400 million over the non-delivery of tanks in 1979, with the shipment stopped because of the Islamic revolution.
Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here .
