THE wife of a Farnham man jailed in Iran is to face a second trial on new security charges, although her husband reportedly said it was unclear what these charges involved.

Richard Ratcliffe, who grew up in Farnham, has fronted the campaign against his British-Iranian wife Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s detention ever since she was arrested in 2016.

Commenting on the new trial, confirmed by an Iranian court this week, he told the BBC: “To go back a week, she had met with the judge... who said there would be a charge of spreading propaganda against the regime, that’s a very mild form of security charge so hopefully it’s just that.”

Nazanin, a 39 year old mum-of-one, is serving a five-year jail sentence in Iran after being detained at Tehran airport in April 2016 while travelling home to the UK with her daughter Gabriella.

Accused by Iran of plotting against the government, she was subsequently convicted of spying, but denies all charges against her and says she was in the country to introduce her daughter to her parents.

According to The Free Nazanin Campaign, in her latest court appearance on Saturday, May 19, Nazanin asked the judge for leniency for the sake of her daughter.

Following the court appearance, Nazanin was able to telephone the British ambassador to Iran for the first time in more than two years, her campaign said.

Responding to news of the fresh charge, Prime Minister Theresa May’s official spokesman said: “The UK government remains committed to doing everything possible to help secure Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s release and alleviate her suffering.”