TEHRAN, March 8 (Xinhua) -- Iran has criticized Britain for providing diplomatic protection to an Iranian-British national, Nazanin Zaghari, who is imprisoned in Iran over espionage charges, Iranian Ambassador to London Hamid Baeidinejad said on Friday.
"Governments may only exercise such protection to their own nationals. As UK government is acutely aware, Iran does not recognize dual nationality. Irrespective of UK residency, Ms Zaghari thus remains Iranian," Baeidinejad tweeted on Friday.
According to Press TV, Iran's intelligence authorities arrested Zaghari at Imam Khomeini International Airport in April 2016 as she was on her way back to London.
She was subsequently put on trial and handed a five-year jail term after being found guilty of spying and spreading propaganda against the Islamic republic, according to report.
British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt announced on Friday that London had decided to give Zaghari diplomatic protection "as part of the government's continuing efforts to secure her release."
