Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori reunited with their families after years in Iran

[Valin]

BBC

Mar. 17 2022

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori have been reunited with their families in the UK after years of detention in Iran.

The British-Iranian nationals were met by their loved ones at RAF Brize Norton in the early hours of Thursday.

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's seven-year-old daughter Gabriella rushed to hug her mother, who she had not seen in years.

Mr Ashoori's daughter Elika spoke of her happiness at seeing her father, sharing a video of the pair's arrival.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe looks at her daughter Gabriella, 7, alongside her husband Richard Ratcliffe and Liz Truss

Gabriella was heard asking "is that mummy?" before her mother walked down the plane's stairs at the airport in Oxfordshire.

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 43, and Mr Ashoori, 67, finally left Tehran on Wednesday after their release was secured following months of negotiations.

(Snip)

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori arrive back at RAF Brize Norton

(Snip)

Their release came after the UK settled a debt to Iran of almost £400m dating from the 1970s, when Iran ordered British tanks and armoured vehicles. After the Iranian revolution in 1979, the UK cancelled the order and Iran demanded its money back for undelivered vehicles.

On Wednesday, Ms Truss called this debt "legitimate" - adding that it and the detainees were "parallel issues in our bilateral relationship [with Iran]".

She said the money would be paid in compliance with sanctions on Iran, and ring-fenced for humanitarian purposes.

(Snip)