The health of a British mum locked up in an Iranian prison on “secret charges” is rapidly deteriorating as she suffers dramatic weight and hair loss and is left “virtually unable to walk”, her family have said.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 38, a British-Iranian citizen, was detained as she was trying to return to Britain with her daughter Gabriella after visiting family in Iran last April.

Since then she has been held as a political prisoner and sentenced to five years behind bars for charges which have not been made public.

The charity worker was accused of plotting to topple the Iranian regime and an appeal made to lower her sentence was rejected in January.

Now Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s sister-in-law Rebecca Jones, who lives in Cardiff, said that while her brother Richard’s wife was no longer being kept in high security, she was starting to suffer physically.

Evin Prison, where she is held, is known for its severe conditions and its impact on prisoners’ health.

Source: / mirror /