UK's Boris Johnson faces calls for resignation

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British Prime Minister Theresa May is facing increasing calls to sack Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson following a week of controversy over his handling of the Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe affair.

The calls have placed May in a dilemma as she has already lost two ministers this month and is under intense scrutiny over Brexit negotiations.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe affair

Zaghari-Ratcliffe is currently serving a five-year sentence in Iran on charges of trying to overthrow the government. She denied all the allegations against her.

Iranian-British aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is seen in an undated photograph handed out by her family. /Reuters Photo

She was detained at the airport in Tehran in April 2016 on her way back to the UK and has insisted the trip was for her daughter to meet her grandparents.

She is an employee for Thomson Reuters Foundation and BBC Media Action, the corporation's international development charity.

Johnson criticized Iran over the case on November 1, saying "When I look at what Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was doing, she was simply teaching people journalism as I understand it…(Neither) Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe nor her family has been informed about what crime she has actually committed. And that I find extraordinary, incredible."

Four days later, Zaghari-Ratcliffe was called to court and the hearing cited Johnson's comments as evidence against her.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is seen with her husband Richard Ratcliffe and her daughter Gabriella in an undated photograph handed out by her family. /Reuters Photo

At the hearing she was accused of engaging in "propaganda against the regime." If convicted, her prison sentence could be doubled.

Johnson’s remarks had drawn an immediate denial, and condemnation, in the UK, and he was forced to issue a subsequent statement of clarification to parliament.

Monique Villa, chief executive of the Thomson Reuters Foundation, believed there was a "direct correlation" between Johnson's remarks and the unscheduled court hearing, and called on Johnson to "immediately correct the serious mistake he made."

Top UK politicians want Johnson sacked

Both Labor Party leader Jeremy Corbyn and Mayor of London Sadiq Khan called on May to sack Johnson.

UK Labor Party leader Jeremy Corbyn (R) has called for the removal of Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson (L). /Reuters Photo

Corbyn labelled Johnson an "embarrassment" to Britain on Saturday, claiming that Johnson has ruined the country's image abroad.

"We've put up with him embarrassing and undermining our country through his incompetence and putting our citizens at risk for long enough. It's time for Boris Johnson to go," said Corbyn.

Khan, Johnson's successor as Mayor of London, also came out on Sunday and echoed Corbyn’s call.

Sadiq Khan (R) succeeded Boris Johnson as mayor of London. /Reuters Photo

"I think he’s got to go. He’s our foreign secretary, whose job is diplomacy and representing the best interests of our country and if Theresa May was a strong prime minister she’d have sacked him a long time ago", the former Labor member of parliament told the BBC during an interview

British ministers rally still around Johnson

Two of Johnson's allies, Brexit Minister David Davis and Environment Minister Michael Gove, both defended their colleague, saying the foreign secretary was doing a "great job" and should not be fired.

Britain's Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union David Davis addresses a joint news conference with European Union's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier (not on the picture) in Brussels, Belgium November 10. /Reuters

"Why would you want to sack him? He’s a good foreign secretary," Davis told Sky News.

Gove said the critics' focus should instead be on the motivation of the Iranian government in jailing Zaghari-Ratcliffe.

"There is no reason, no excuse and no justification for her detention and she should be released," he told the BBC.

Michael Gove, Britain's Secretary of State for Environment arriving in Downing Street, London, on October 31. /Reuters Photo

A Foreign Office source later said Johnson, who is regarded as gaffe-prone, had held a "very constructive" phone call with Zaghari-Ratcliffe's husband, Richard Ratcliffe.

Ratcliffe has demanded a clearer statement from Johnson to correct his mistakes in parliament and in Tehran as soon as possible and called on the minister to visit his wife in jail.

May under pressure

May is currently facing a crisis over her cabinet as she lost two cabinet ministers in recent weeks.

Last week International Development Minister Priti Patel was forced to resign after it was revealed that she met Israeli officials during a family holiday in the summer without notifying the government.

Patel's resignation came just a week after the Defense Secretary Michael Fallon's quit amid a sexual harassment scandal.

May's de facto deputy, Damian Green, is also facing an investigation as "extreme" pornographic materials were reportedly found on one of his Commons computers though he has denied the claim.

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May attends the Remembrance Sunday Cenotaph service in London, Britain, November 12. /Reuters Photo

If Green were to resign, the prime minister could be forced to face a series by-elections, which could further threaten her already unstable minority government.

According to France 24, if May sacked Johnson, she will lose a pro-Brexit minister. However, if May failed to oust Johnson, she will face more questions over her leadership ability along the lines of Khan's.

The prime minister is also facing criticism at home over her handling the Brexit negotiations within and outside her party. More than 120 members of parliament requested the release of "secret documents" detailing the economic impact of withdrawing from the EU. The government has refused.

The Sunday Times newspaper reported Saturday that forty members of parliament from May’s Conservative Party have agreed to sign a letter of no-confidence in her.