'Female volleyball prisoner' charged with crimes against Iranian regime after 87 days locked up

Up until now, Ghoncheh Ghavami, a law graduate of London university SOAS, has been detained for 87-days in Iran’s notoriously tough Evin prison without charge or any idea of when she might be released.

However, the family has now confirmed she has been charged for “propaganda against the regime” – a crime, which if it goes to Tehran’s infamous revolutionary court, carries a potential prison sentence of several years.

A friend of the family told Telegraph Wonder Women that a distressed Miss Ghavami called her parents, who are living in Iran, on Monday evening to confirm that she had been charged.

Ghoncheh before her incarceration

Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond raised British concerns about the plight of Ghoncheh Ghavami with Mohammed Zarif, his Iranian counterpart, at talks at the United Nations General Assembly in New York earlier this week.

The intervention of Britain’s most senior diplomatic official in the case followed complaints from Miss Ghavami’s family about the apparent lack of support from the British government.

Iman Ghavami, (28) Miss Ghavami’s brother, who is based in London, has also travelled to New York, this week in a desperate bid to meet the Iranian president, Hassah Rouhani and plead for his sister’s release. Mr Rouhani is due to address the UN tomorrow.

Mr Ghavami met with the Foreign Office for the first time last week, following Telegraph Wonder Women's coverage of the case.

The talks between Mr Hammond and Mr Zarif were arranged to discuss Iranian’s nuclear programme and plans for the two countries to re-open their embassies in each other’s capitals.

But the foreign secretary also highlighted human rights issues with his counterpart.

“I also raised the UK’s continuing concerns about Iran’s approach to human rights, in particular the treatment of a number of British-Iranian dual nationals detained in Iran, including Ghoncheh Ghavami,” Mr Hammond said after the meeting.

Ghoncheh Ghavami is a law graduate of London's SOAS university

The Foreign Office previously said that Ajay Sharma, the British diplomat in charge of relations with Iran, was "following up direct with the Iranians on this case".

Miss Ghavami has been held in Evin prison since June 30 and is now facing her 88th day in jail.

She was detained after attending the sports match on June 20, which women had been previously banned from doing.

However, Miss Ghavami thought she was allowed to go because of a recent newspaper article which appeared to condone the attendance of women at volleyball games.

Mr Ghavami’s parents are taking any opportunity they can to visit their daughter in prison.

Miss Ghavami is of dual nationality, as her mother, Susan Moshtaghian, 49, was born in London and grew up in the UK. She later moved to Iran where she met and married her surgeon husband, Houshang Ghavami, 64.

Before Friday Iman Ghavami’s only contact with the Foreign Office had been a phone call over a week ago, in which a representative said they would send a diplomatic note to the Iranian government. However, the family had not heard anything back and he called upon British officials to do more.

He previously told Telegraph Wonder Women: “If the Foreign Office could get involved in a more official way, it would be extremely helpful, as we simply have no idea how we are going to get my sister out of prison.”

Evin prison, in North Tehran, is known for detaining political prisoners and journalists, is one of the “most intimidating places” in the country according to Mr Ghavami.

“The prison is notorious. Ghoncheh is in the worst part of it and has been interrogated repeatedly [without a lawyer being present]. It’s the worst place you can be. It’s like something you see in the movies. The psychological conditions are awful. I’ve only seen one photo of it but my parents visited her yesterday [last Wednesday] and they are at breaking point,” Mr Ghavami said.

“My mother had to leave the visitor’s room and vomited so many times outside that she nearly passed out.

“My sister is very distressed as she has gained the impression from her interrogators that she may have to stay for a long time.”

'Bring My Sister home' is the title of Mr Ghavami's online campaign

He has set up an online petition to try and bring his sister’s plight to greater prominence. At the time of writing, the ‘Bring my sister home’ petition had nearly 300,000 signatures.

Currently Britain has no permanent diplomatic presence in Iran. The British Embassy in Tehran was stormed and looted by a pro-regime mob in December 2011. Afterwards, the mission was shut down and all staff evacuated.

While agreement has been reached to re-open the embassy, this has not yet taken place. Ajay Sharma, the aforementioned British diplomat in charge of relations with Iran, is based in London and only pays visits to Tehran.

In addition, Iran does not recognise dual nationality. In the eyes of the country’s authorities, Ms Ghavami is an Iranian citizen and the fact that she possesses a British passport is irrelevant.

Mr Ghavami described his sister as someone who “likes helping people” and said she was planning on returning to the UK to complete a Master’s, as well as continuing her charity work with women and children.