Britain Presses Iranian Deputy FM Over Detained Dual Nationals

Britain on Thursday said that officials had pressed Iran's deputy foreign minister Ali Bagheri-Kani to release detained dual nationals and rejoin nuclear talks.

British foreign office officials also told Bagheri Kani at a meeting in London that Iran should conclude the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear deal under the terms on the table now, the foreign ministry said.

"The Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister was also pressed on the need for Iran to urgently release all British nationals unfairly detained in Iran, including Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, Anoosheh Ashoori and Morad Tahbaz," the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said in a statement.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arrested at a Tehran airport in April 2016 and later convicted of plotting to overthrow the clerical establishment.

In April, an Iranian court sentenced Zaghari-Ratcliffe to a new term in jail on charges of propaganda against Iran's ruling system, just a month after she finished a prior five-year sentence.

Her husband, Richard Ratcliffe, is on a hunger strike to highlight her case. He met British minister for the Middle East James Cleverly on Thursday.

"If I'm honest, quite a depressing meeting," Ratcliffe told reporters after he left the Foreign Office, adding that Cleverly told him the meeting with Bagheri Kani had been cordial.

"(Cleverly) couldn't give a timeline on when things were going to move forward."

The FCDO said Cleverly had reaffirmed the government's commitment to reuniting Zaghari-Ratcliffe with her family in the UK.