THE FAMILY of a British-Iranian mother-of-one currently imprisoned on spying charges have hailed the "first ripple of freedom” as her new court case was postponed.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was detained at Tehran airport as she tried to return to Britain on April 3, 2016, while young daughter, Gabriella, also remains in Iran.

Last weekend, Boris Johnson MP, the foreign secretary, held talks with president Hassan Rouhani, where they “both spoke forthrightly”, and his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif on Saturday.

The trip will be the first made by a British foreign secretary to Iran since 2015 and only the third since 2003.

The family have spent the weekend “watching closely with hope” while Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe said she could now “see some light”.

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s sister-in-law, Cwmbran GP Rebecca Ratcliffe recently acknowledged that the political pressure by the government had increased.

She told the Argus: “We have been campaigning for 19 months to have this recognised as a diplomatic issue.

“The government is behind Nazanin and wants to bring our girls home."

Dr Ratcliffe added that the family were hopeful that Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe and her daughter could be allowed to return to the UK in time for Christmas.

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who works for the charitable arm of the news agency Reuters Thompson, is serving a five-year sentence over allegations of plotting to overthrow the Tehran government.

She denies this, and her family says she was arrested after visiting family to celebrate Nowruz – the Iranian new year.

She had an appeal over her five-year sentence rejected by the Iranian Revolutionary Court earlier this year, while she is due to appear in court on Sunday on a second charge of spreading propaganda.

It follows a gaffe by Mr Johnson, in which he told parliamentary committee Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe was training journalists in Iran at the time. Her employer has also denied this.

A vigil was held in honour of Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe in Newport on Sunday, December 5, with more than 100 people attending.