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The husband of imprisoned Brit Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has said the government must use "more stick" in its dealings with Iran to secure her release.

The British-Iranian charity worker has been held in prison for more than four years, after being convicted on charges of spying after she was accused of running a journalism course that encouraged people to spread propaganda.

On Monday her husband Richard Ratcliffe said his wife's captivity was "complex".

But he urged the UK government to use take a tougher stance in a bid to help her return home - as the couple's MP told PoliticsHome the government had "completely failed to keep Nazanin from harm".

"These cases are complex and it is always negotiation, it's always a mixture of carrot and stick, but I think there has been far too little stick," Mr Zaghari-Ratcliffe told Times Radio.

He added: "I think there has been a reluctance to acknowledge these hostage cases, a reluctance to call them out and condemn the practice.

"A reluctance to criticise the level of abuse she has been through - it's not often someone gets physically beaten but the level of psychological torture people get put through is shocking.

"I think there has been a reluctance to honestly engage, partly because there are bigger issues like the nuclear deal that people are trying to maintain. But it's been collateral damage for four and a bit years."

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