Anoosheh Ashoori: Iranian-Briton's family delighted at his release

Anoosheh Ashoori with his wife Sherry Izadi

The family of a British-Iranian man who is returning to the UK after being freed from Iran have said they are "delighted" by his release.

Anoosheh Ashoori, 67, a retired civil engineer, had been detained in Evin prison for almost five years.

He and fellow British-Iranian national Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe were released earlier on Wednesday.

Mr Ashoori's family said his freedom had been "a long time coming" and thanked all who helped bring him home.

In a video message posted on Twitter, his daughter, Elika Ashoori said: "1,672 days ago our family's foundations were rocked when our father and husband was unjustly detained and taken away from us.

"Now, we can look forward to rebuilding those same foundations with our cornerstone back in place."

She said this week had been an "emotional rollercoaster" and that it was not until her family was told his plane had left Iran that "we allowed ourselves to feel joy for the very first time".

Elika spoke to her father when he was in Muscat and said he was "excited" - but noted it was "very surreal" to see him again, and that he had lost a lot of weight and that his hair had gone white while he was imprisoned.

He was looking forward to being able to "finally sleep in a comfortable bed" and "to turn the lights off" - as fluorescent lights are on all day and night at the prison.

"All we're thinking about is him coming back tonight to his home and being with his family and surrounded by people who love him," she said.

• Uncertain fate of Iran's jailed dual nationals

• Why has Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe been freed now?

• How is a UK-Iran debt linked to Nazanin's release?

Mr Ashoori was arrested in August 2017 while visiting his elderly mother in Tehran, and was detained in Evin prison.

Despite living in the UK for 20 years, he was later convicted of spying for Israel's Mossad intelligence agency and sentenced to prison for 10 years.

His and Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's release followed months of intensive diplomatic negotiations between London and Tehran and the repaying of a debt owed by the UK to Iran.

A third dual national, Morad Tahbaz, has been released from prison in Iran but will not be returning to the UK. The government has pledged to keep working to secure his return.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said: "We have the deepest admiration for the resolve, courage and determination Nazanin, Anoosheh and Morad, and their families, have shown.

"They have faced hardship that no family should ever experience and this is a moment of great relief."

Mr Ashoori's MP, Labour's Janet Daby, said it was a "day of celebration" for his family.

The MP for Lewisham East told the Commons: "As Anoosheh's member of Parliament I am, of course, thrilled beyond belief for his release and for Nazanin. I'm incredibly happy for Anoosheh's wife Sherry, for his children, as well as for their families and friends."

Iran debt paid

Ms Truss confirmed the UK government had settled the debt it owed to Iran from the 1970s "in parallel" with the release of the detainees.

The UK paid £393.8m owed to Iran after it cancelled an order for British-made Chieftain tanks following the overthrow of the Shah in the revolution of 1979.

Ms Truss said the debt had been paid "in full compliance with UK and international sanctions and all legal obligations".

"These funds will be ring-fenced solely for the purchase of humanitarian goods," she added.

Mrs Zhagari-Ratcliffe's husband, Richard Racliffe, had long claimed that his wife was being used as a pawn in a dispute between the UK and Iran over the unpaid debt.

Sanctions on the government in Tehran had been one of the key sticking points in being able to settle the debt.

But Iran's Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, said it was wrong to link the payment of the debt to the releases, adding: "These two persons were released on humanitarian grounds."

Ms Daby thanked Ms Truss for helping secure her constituent's release but said his detention could have been avoided.

Asked why it had taken so long to secure the detainees' release, Ms Truss added: "What I will say about the process of securing the release of our detainees is the foreign secretaries, the prime minister, Foreign Office officials, have worked tirelessly on this."

Oman's foreign minister Badr Albusaidi tweeted a picture of Mr Ashoori and Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe arriving in the Gulf state, which has been closely involved in negotiations to secure their release.

He said: "Soon they will be with their loved ones at home. We hope this result will bring further progress in the dialogue between the parties [the UK and Iran]."

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is visiting Gulf states, welcomed news of their release.

"The UK has worked intensively to secure their release and I am delighted they will be reunited with their families and loved ones," he tweeted.

According to Amnesty International UK, Mr Ashoori was "subjected to torture, repeatedly interrogated without a lawyer present and forced to sign 'confessions' while sleep deprived".

In January 2020, Mr Ashoori's wife Sherry Izadi, who lives in London, said she feared he had no "hope in hell" of being released.