Anoosheh Ashoori: Wife of freed Iran detainee calls return magical

Anoosheh Ashoori is finally back home with his wife Sherry Izadi

The wife of one of the British-Iranians released by Iran has described his return home to the UK as "magical".

Anoosheh Ashoori is back in Lewisham, south-east London, after being detained in 2017 on spying charges and sentenced to 10 years in prison in Iran.

Mr Ashoori, a retired civil engineer, attempted suicide twice and held a 17-day hunger strike during his detention.

Sherry Izadi said: "I've hugged him, I've talked to him, I've held his hand but it still feels unreal."

She told BBC London: "To be able to physically touch someone that you've spent all your life with and that you haven't seen in five years - and I think it was the same for the kids - it was a deeply, deeply emotional moment.

"I can't put it into words."

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 43, was also freed, and both were met by their loved ones at RAF Brize Norton in the early hours when they arrived from Iran, via Oman.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori shortly after returning to the UK

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

• Iranian-Briton's family delighted at his release

The 67-year-old finally left Tehran on Wednesday after his release was secured following months of negotiations between London and Tehran and the settling of a £400m debt from the 1970s owed by the UK to Iran for an order of tanks and armoured vehicles.

The UK cancelled the order following the Iranian revolution in 1979 and Iran demanded its money back for undelivered vehicles.

Ms Izadi described how chocolate and apples helped get her through some of the darkest days.

She said: "We've all aged considerably, we've been through trauma. We've had financial difficulties, physical, mental, daily pressures of life.

"It's been incredibly difficult, but we're just so relieved that it's over and we can now start rebuilding again.

"It's either giving up and surrendering completely, or it's fighting and there's, you know, the first one is never an option," she added.

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