UK's Johnson meets Iran president as he lobbies for jailed aid worker
British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson held almost an hour of talks with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Sunday after flying to Tehran to seek the release of a jailed British-Iranian aid worker.
"Both spoke forthrightly about the obstacles in the relationship and agreed on the need to make progress in all areas," said a spokeswoman for Britain's Foreign Office after Johnson concluded what was only the third visit to Iran by a British foreign minister in the past 14 years.
The Foreign Office confirmed Johnson had raised "consular cases of dual nationals" during talks. These cases include Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who Britain says was visiting family on holiday in April 2016 when she was jailed by Iran for attempting to overthrow the government.
The woman's husband later told Sky News that a court appearance scheduled in Iran for Sunday had been postponed. "I think I am very optimistic today," Richard Ratcliffe said.
He added that he hoped his wife would be home before Christmas but cautioned that there could still be setbacks.
