A British man is urging the government to help release his wife from jail in Iran where she was arrested while on holiday visiting relatives. 

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who has dual British-Iranian nationality, was detained by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard on 3 April at an airport as she tried to return to the UK.

The 37-year-old is being held in solitary confinement in an unknown location in Kerman Province, 1,000km south of the capital Tehran.

Family life: Richard Ratcliffe (centre) with his wife Nazanin (right) and their daughter Gabriella  

She had her passport confiscated and was separated from her 22-month old daughter Gabriella who is being looked after by her grandparents.

Nazanin’s husband Richard said: “Her family heard nothing for three days and then she was was allowed to telephone to say that she was safe.

“They were then told that she would be released within a couple of days. After a couple of days it went quiet and it turned out that she had been moved to Kerman Province.”

Separated: Nazanin is in solitary confinement while Gabiriella is being cared for by her grandparents in Iran

On a Change.org petition, Richard started, he wrote: “It is hard to understand how a young mother and her small child on holiday could be considered an issue of national security. She has been over to visit her family regularly since making Britain her home.

“Nazanin currently works as a project manager for the Thomson-Reuters Foundation; which delivers charitable projects around the world. It does not work in Iran.

“Nazanin has now been in solitary confinement for over 30 days.”

For more information about this campaign, pictures or interviews go to change.org/freenazanin or email press.uk@change.org.