Iran jail hell Brit Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 39, begs judge to let her go home and have another baby before it’s too late

THE Brit mum being held in Iran has begged to go home so she can have another baby before it's too late.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe pleaded with a judge: "I am turning 40. I might only have a slim chance."

According to Sky News, the mum-of-one added: "There is something called clemency.

"Give me that for the sake of my baby. She hasn't seen her father for over two years now.

"I would ask the judge today to close this new case and give me parole, so that I can go home and have another baby and have a normal life."

The judge said he would address her case "as a priority".

Earlier, her husband Richard said they were "holding our breath" after she appeared in the Iranian court on Saturday.

She has been told she faces new charges of "spreading propaganda" and is likely to be convicted.

And Boris Johnson today insisted the Foreign Office is working on a daily basis to free her.

The 40-year-old charity worker appeared at the hearing where she was presented with a 200-page document and told she needed a new lawyer.

Richard, speaking to The Sun Online, dismissed the so-called evidence against her.

He said: "Most of it seems to be press cuttings of our campaign, it's not ‘evidence’ of her having done stuff.”

Despite the new hearing the couple are still in the dark as to what happens next.

Richard said: “Our experience of the court process so far is that it hasn’t been very positive so there’s a bit of holding our breath this time.

“In terms of what happens next? Who knows.”

During the hearing Judge Salavait warned her that she was likely to be found guilty and dismissed her lawyer and gave her just ten days to find a new one.

The couple have been given some hope as the court allowed Nazanin to phone the British embassy for the first time since being in prison.

Richard said: “The court case happened on Saturday, which made us pretty low. Then there was the phone call on Sunday which made us more upbeat.

“The fact that she was allowed to call is a good thing. It’s very easy for me to over-read things and get confused.”

He added the response of the embassy had been "quite cautious – I guess they were trying to get their bearings on why this was allowed.”

Richard added that he hoped the Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson would do everything in his powers to help.

He said: “We’ll try and meet with the Foreign Office this week and work out what’s going on and we will want the Foreign Secretary to do what he can.

"That would be an intervention. One of the things we asked before was for him to try and visit her and to make it really clear that the UK was standing by her.

“We also asked that the Government protest – the ambassador protesting and the Foreign Secretary protesting, which would be a more serious level.

“The gravitas of the Foreign Secretary can make a difference.”

“I’d like him to do what he can. It’s not for me to tell him how to do it.”

Speaking during a trip to Buenos Aires today, Mr Johnson insisted his officials are dedicated to helping the British mum.

He told reporters: "I can tell you absolutely sincerely that there is not a day that goes by in which we are not working in the Foreign Office on every single one of the incredibly sad consular cases that we have – and particularly the difficult cases we have in Iran."

But he claimed it would not help Nazanin's case to give regular updates – adding that Mr Ratcliffe should be reassured by the attention the Foreign Office is giving to her ordeal.

During the hearing Judge Salavait told her she was likely to be found guilty.

Human rights body Amnesty International described the judge's comments of a likely conviction over the new charges as "another body blow".

Kerry Moscogiuri, Amnesty International UK’s Campaigns Director, said: “This is yet another body blow for Nazanin.

“This will be incredibly upsetting for Nazanin and her family.

“Nazanin has already been subjected to a blatantly unfair trial and sentence, and a string of unfounded accusations in the Iranian media.

The latest developments in the case come at a time of heightened tensions between Iran and the West after Donald Trump withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal recently, breaking with US allies in Europe and potentially worsening the crisis in the Middle East.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo signalled today that the United States would take a hardline against the Islamic Republic, saying the US would impose the "strongest sanctions in history" if the country's leadership did not change its foreign and domestic policy.

The actions of the US though has led to a split with its European Union allies, including Britain.

Mr Johnson attempted to salvage the nuclear deal by holding crisis talks to thrash out a last-minute deal in the hope that Tehran did not ditch the deal.

Nazanin has been held in Iran on spying claims since 2016, when she was arrested during a holiday with her daughter Gabriella.

Nazanin was originally arrested at Tehran airport on April 3, 2016.

After being detained for over five months, initially in solitary confinement for 45 days without access to a lawyer, Nazanin was sentenced to five years in prison in September 2016 after being convicted of “membership of an illegal group”.

She is currently being held in Tehran's Evin Prison.

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Members of Nazanin’s family visited prosecutors for an update on her case earlier this month, and according to Mr Ratcliffe they say she is being used as a "bargaining chip".

He said she told him of the development in a 5.30am phone call on May 14, and added: "I have no clue why they have started all this nonsense again. They know Boris is coming.

"Please take me out of this, please. My parents have had enough. I want my daughter back. She needs both of us. So tell the world. Enough of this nonsense."

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