Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe: ex-Tory MP urges inquiry into why Iran debt went unpaid

Alistair Burt, previously a Foreign Office minister, queries delay to payment of cash that freed Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe

The UK government has known for many years that if it paid a 400m debt to Iran it was likely to lead to the release of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the former Foreign Office minister Alistair Burt has said in a letter to the foreign affairs select committee.

Burt, a Tory MP until 2019, is calling for the committee to launch an inquiry into why the debt was not paid and into who - either in the governments of the UK or the US - resisted making the payment.