Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe with her husband Richard

THE campaign to secure the release of a charity worker locked up in Iran has suffered a new blow after she was told to pack a bag for prison ahead of a new trial.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has spent four years at the centre of a global row over her ongoing incarceration with all campaigns failing to bring her home She is accused of being in the country as part of a plot against the Iranian government, but she has always denied the vague spying charges levelled at her.

The mother-of-one’s nightmare began when she was held at Tehran airport on the way home from a family holiday in 2016. On Monday, she was told that she will face a new trial, possibly leading to a further sentence.

In April, she will have served the five year term that she was originally sentenced to. Hampstead and Kilburn MP Tulip Siddiq said last night she feared for Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe after she had been told to “pack a bag for prison ahead of the new trial”.

Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who is from West Hampstead and has dual nationality, is currently on a tag in Iran after being released on furlough – in Iran, the term is roughly used for a temporary release from prison.

She has not been allowed to leave Iran and her supporters believe she may be sent back to the cells at Evin prison in Tehran. This week they called on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to ensure the UK is represented at the hearing.

Ms Siddiq said: “Nazanin is facing yet another show trial in Iran as part of this ongoing political game between the UK and the Iranian governments. It’s completely unacceptable, and the very least our government should be asserting the UK’s right to consular access and making sure that the UK officials can attend Nazanin’s trial.”

Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s daughter, Gabriella, flew back to West Hampstead last year to start school. Her husband, Richard, has been at the forefront of the “Free Nazanin” campaign and staged a hunger strike outside the Iranian embassy in London.

It is feared, however, that no amount of campaigning will succeed until the UK resolves a row which can be traced back to a cancelled arms deal in 1971. Iran says the UK still owes it £450million.

Mr Johnson was accused of making Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s plight worse when he told a parliamentary committee during his time as Foreign Secretary that she had been working as a journalist in Iran. In fact, her employment was with the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters.

With communication often unclear about the status of her case, Ms Siddiq has been reporting back updates.

“I had hoped the delay of the trial was a sign that work was taking place behind the scenes to resolve this quickly, but now I fear that progress may be going in the wrong direction,” she said.