Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s husband, Farnham man Richard Ratcliffe, has criticised US president Donald Trump’s sanctioned assassination of the Iranian general Qassem Suleimani.

An Iranian dual national, Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been imprisoned in the Iranian capital Tehran for three of her five-year sentence, levied on charges of espionage that she vehemently denies.

But her husband now fears the escalation of tensions in the area could make it “much harder” to free his “desperate” wife, and accused the US of “playing fast and loose” with international law.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme in the wake of Suleimani’s killing, Mr Ratcliffe argued the US’s actions undermine the basis of his appeal to Iran that upholding international law and respecting UN rulings is of absolute necessity.

In a further interview with BBC One’s Andrew Marr Show, Mr Ratcliffe said his wife was “scared and panicking” in the aftermath of the assassination and Iran’s resulting vows to seek revenge.

He added Nazanin’s fate is now evermore uncertain, and the potential she will have to serve her full, or even an extended, sentence has become increasingly likely.

Jeremy Hunt, MP for South West Surrey, agreed on Sky News that British Iranian prisoners will now face a “much tougher climate” for negotiating their release, because of Iran’s desire “to exact revenge and retribution”.

Therefore, Mr Ratcliffe is once again entreating UK prime minister Boris Johnson to meet with him as soon possible to discuss the measures that need to be implemented to ensure the safety of British Iranian prisoners.

It comes after Mr Ratcliffe spent his first Christmas in four years with his (and Nazanin’s) five-year-old daughter, Gabriella – who also joined her dad and Mr Hunt for a carol concert outside Number 10 Downing Street, raising awareness of her mum’s case.