KEY POINTS

  • Johnson is under fire over comments made about British-Iranian Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.
  • Michael Gove was also criticised for his remarks.

A former Conservative cabinet member has said that Boris Johnson should "consider his position" in the wake of comments that have complicated the release of a British-Iranian woman being held in Iran.

Former education secretary Nicky Morgan was speaking on the Daily Politics show on Monday 13 November when she questioned the position of the foreign secretary.

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Johnson had previously apologised in the House of Commons after he told a select committee that Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was training journalists in Iran.

The mother has been jailed despite claiming that she was on holiday in the country.

Johnson told the Commons that he was sorry if his comments had been "so taken out of context" as "to cause any kind of anxiety".

The UK government has also insisted that it has "no doubt" that Zaghari-Ratcliffe was on holiday at the time of her arrest.

But the foreign secretary has remained under pressure over the incident which some have suggested could lead to an extended jail sentence for the mother.

The environment secretary Michael Gove also came under criticism for possibly adding further fuel to the fire by saying that he didn't know why Ratcliffe was in Iran.

On Boris Johnson, Nicky Morgan said: "I certainly think he should be considering his position. I cannot begin to imagine what was going through Boris Johnson and I'm afraid to say Michael Gove's minds. We all know, particularly after a week of coverage, that she was in the country visiting her parents with her young daughter. That's it, end of story."

Criticising the two cabinet ministers, she added that Gove was correct in suggesting that the Iranian authorities had "no justification" in holding Zaghari-Ratcliffe.

There have been claims that Johnson may not have read his briefs, to which Morgan said that, if true, "that is completely inexcusable. If he doesn't want to do it, then somebody else should be given the job."

The foreign office has ramped up efforts in recent weeks to secure the release of the mother.

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