The British daily The Guardian has reported that authorities in Iran have set a date for the trial of British-Iranian citizen Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, citing the woman’s husband.
Richard Ratcliffe told the newspaper that his wife will appear in court Dec. 10 to face charges of spreading propaganda.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who was arrested in Tehran in April 2016, is serving a five-year prison term for a conviction on national-security charges.
The new charges against Zaghari-Ratcliffe apparently stem from a statement made by British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, who told a parliamentary committee on Nov. 1 that she had been “training journalists” in Iran.
Johnson later apologized for the statement, saying it was not true and affirming that the woman had only been visiting relatives in the Islamic republic.
On Nov. 4, however, Zaghari-Ratcliffe was brought to an unscheduled court hearing, at which Johnson’s comments were used as evidence for a new charge that she had been spreading “propaganda against the regime.”
Richard Ratcliffe said he believed his wife was about to be released before Johnson made his remarks.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s employer, the Thomson Reuters Foundation, has said she was not working in Iran.
Johnson said earlier this month that he plans to travel to Tehran soon and would seek to meet with Zaghari-Ratcliffe.
Reuters and The Guardian contributed to this report.
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