Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe film to bring plight of other hostages held by Iran into focus

The husband of former Iran hostage Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has said a film about her six-year incarceration has been produced to help other British hostages held by the regime in Tehran.

Richard Ratcliffe has spoken out against what was widely regarded as the state kidnapping of his wife, as well as criticising what he sees as the disinterest of British politicians in pushing for her release.

Mr Ratcliffe, an accountant in London, campaigned vigorously for his wife's release, including going on a 21-day hunger strike outside the UK Foreign Office to bring attention to her plight.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe with her husband Richard Ratcliffe and daughter Gabriella, after a meeting with then UK prime minister Boris Johnson. PA

The BBC has turned their ordeal into a film called Prisoner 951, which stars Narges Rashidi and Joseph Fiennes in the lead roles. Mr Ratcliffe said he gave the film his full co-operation “because other people do go through similar things and there are British citizens being held in Iran still and I want the lessons to be learnt from our case”.

Among UK citizens still detained by Iran are British couple Craig and Lindsay Foreman, who were arrested in January this year on charges of espionage.

Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a dual Iran-British citizen, was detained in early 2016, largely as part of a long-running financial dispute between the two countries.