IRANIAN asylum seekers are fuelling record demand for emergency help from a Scottish charity, figures show.

Earlier this week The National told how the Refugee Survival Trust (RST), which offers emergency funding to those cut off from state support, was struggling to cope with a “significant surge” in demand for aid.

Grants given in the first seven months of the year have already passed the total for the whole of the previous year.

Now this newspaper can reveal that the change is fuelled in part by a “significant increase” in applications from Iranians. Fewer than 50 sought help from the Glasgow-based organisation in the first two quarters of 2015-16, but this has now grown to 110.

RST, which describes itself as a charity of “last resort” for those left destitute, says it is seeking answers for the rise, which has led to more approaches from Iranians than from Iraqis, Eritreans, Pakistanis and Sudanese.

The RST paid out more than 170 grants worth £14,300 in October and fears it may struggle to cope unless demand falls.

Co-ordinator Zoe Holliday told The National: “We are a very small charity. We are reliant on individual donations and trust funds, and if this demand continues to rise we have to look at filling that shortfall. That is a big concern."

The Scottish Refugee Council (SRC) has confirmed that it has experienced “significant numbers” of approaches from Iranian Kurds seeking support.

The latest Home Office figures, produced in August, show Iran is now the number one country of origin for asylum applications.

Half of Iranian applicants secured some form of leave to remain in the second quarter of 2017, with the other half refused.

The news comes as attention remains on the case of jailed Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a UK citizen with dual nationality who has been kept in solitary confinement in Iran since her arrest while visiting family in April last year.

The mother has been accused of working to undermine the regime and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson had to apologise after mistakenly telling a parliamentary panel that she had been training journalists there.

Yesterday the country’s ambassador to the UK claimed Britain is to pay an “outstanding debt” of more than £400 million, but said this was not linked to Zaghari-Ratcliffe.

On social media, Hamid Baeidinejad said the money “will be transferred to the Central Bank of Iran in the coming days”, adding: “The payment... has nothing to do with Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s case.”

The comments follow reports that Westminster authorities were considering such a move after Johnson resisted pressure to resign.

According to the 2011 census, there are fewer than 3000 Iranians living in Scotland, with those who identified simply as Kurdish – an ethnic group that cuts across geographical barriers in the Middle East – numbering around 800.

The SRC has indicated that the most recent increase in asylum cases involving Iranians reflects the nation’s “political situation”.

Meanwhile, Mazyar Dalwand, secretary of the Iranian-Scottish Association, says he is concerned by the rise of his compatriots falling through the social security system in the UK.

Under immigration rules, asylum seekers whose cases are rejected lose their recourse to public funds. However, they may stay on as they challenge this or enter a fresh bid for refugee status, turning to charities like the RST for an allowance of £36 per week to get by and finance necessary journeys to Home Office centres in Liverpool and beyond to submit paperwork.

Speaking ahead of tomorrow’s Iranian-Scottish Association annual general meeting, Dalwand said: “There is a very big problem between Iran and the UK about asylum seekers.

“Applications are being rejected and people don’t accept it.

“The asylum system is not just about saying ‘I had a problem so I ran away to here’, it is technical, and most cases are being rejected because of a technical problem.

“A second claim may be granted when these problems are fixed, but it’s a difficult and time consuming process.”

The Home Office says guidance used by officials to determine asylum cases involving Iranians is little changed since its publication last year.

Officials did not give any indication of reasons underlying the increase, but a spokesperson said: “The UK has a proud history of granting asylum to those who need it and all claims are considered on their individual merits.”