Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the British-Iranian woman sentenced to five years imprisonment in Iran in 2016, has been told she will stand trial on fresh charges next Monday. Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who was released to house arrest in March due to the coronavirus outbreak, was also told she would be returned to Evin prison after the hearing. The move comes a day after it emerged that a UK court hearing on a debt owed to Iran had been postponed for six months. It was due to start on 3 November. Both countries formally deny there is any connection between the debt case and the retention of British-Iranian dual nationals in Tehran jails, but officials privately acknowledge that the two issues have been linked. British sources said the postponement was sought by the Iranian legal team, but that has not been confirmed. Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been told she will face Abolqasem Salavati, a hardline judge who has been subjected to sanctions by the EU and the US. Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s five-year sentence is due to expire next spring, but the fresh charges open the possibility of years more in jail. On Tuesday her husband, Richard Ratcliffe, spoke to the UK foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, and called on the UK to assert its right to consular access so that British officials could attend the new trial and visit his wife. Iran does not recognise dual national status. Raab assured Ratcliffe that the UK’s diplomatic push was ongoing and that the government did not judge it time to change strategy. Ratcliffe said: “We disagreed on this. Seclusion of the victim, with bouts of conspicuous cruelty in the face of decisions to wait, are key pillars of hostage taking. Both must be challenged robustly if British citizens are going to be protected from hostage diplomacy by Iran or others.” He added: “I do think that if she’s not home for Christmas, there’s every chance this could run for years. So I really hope there’s something we are not being told, as on the face of it the government’s response seems disastrous.[It’s] just extraordinary that they won’t change course.” Ratcliffe said a court summons was delivered to his wife by “two very large IRGC [Revolutionary Guards] guards who came to her parents’ door. They told her that she should pack a bag with her for Monday, and should make sure she brings with her all her clothes and necessary medications, as she will be going back to prison after her court appearance.” Ratcliffe recalled a number of emotional telephone calls with his wife, who described herself as an “emotional wreck”. “Tell me every day that I won’t be taken back in. This is my nightmare. Tell me that the only way to go now is to come home – and not backwards, not after four years and eight months. Someone can help me, surely?” she said, according to Ratcliffe. Ratcliffe said the court summons came after months of uncertainty and anguish, and he described his wife’s release with an electronic tag as a “cat-and-mouse game” by the Iranian authorities. “Nazanin is under effective house arrest unable to go anywhere, or have anyone dare visit. Even close friends fear the association. Since her last court appearance she has been harassed by the Revolutionary Guards on average at least once a week. She is reminded repeatedly that while she might go home, she also might soon be back in prison,” he said. On Tuesday night Raab said: “Iran’s continued treatment of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe in this manner is unacceptable and unjustified. It tarnishes Iran’s reputation and is causing enormous distress to Nazanin and her family. Iran must end her arbitrary detention and that of all dual British nationals”. Tulip Siddiq, the MP for Hampstead and Kilburn where Zaghari-Ratcliffe lives, said: “Nazanin has once again been treated with utter contempt, and I am extremely concerned about her future and wellbeing. The fact that she has been told to pack a bag for prison ahead of her court hearing doesn’t fill me with confidence that this will be anything close to a fair trial. “The timing of this development alongside the postponement of the court hearing about the UK’s historic debt to Iran raises serious concerns. I can only hope that there is work going on behind the scenes to resolve the debt quickly because we seem to be going in completely the wrong direction and Nazanin, as ever, is paying the price. The foreign secretary must assert the UK’s right to consular access and ensure that UK officials are present at Nazanin’s trial.”