Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe: Mum released from Iran reunited with family

Nazanin hugs her daughter and husband after arriving back in the UK

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian woman held in Iran for the past six years, is now back in the UK and has been reunited with her family.

The plane bringing her home touched down at an RAF base in Oxfordshire just after 1am on Thursday.

For her daughter, seven-year-old Gabriella Ratcliffe, this is the first time she has had her mother at home since she was a baby.

Until now she has has only been able to see her mum through video calls or visiting her in prison in Iran.

Nazanin and Anoosheh reunited with their relatives

A picture taken inside the airport showed Nazanin and Anoosheh Ashoori, another British-Iranian who was released, standing in a group with their relatives.

The caption read: "Happiness in one pic."

Gabriella could be seen with her arms round her mother's neck.

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arrested in Iran in 2016, but always denied she had done anything wrong.

She had her British passport taken away and could not leave the country.

Speaking from the airport, UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said the pair's release had been uncertain until the "last minute", adding that recent days had been "very emotional" for both families.

What happened to Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe?

Gabriella and her dad, Richard Ratcliffe, on a video call to her mum Nazanin

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe has dual British and Iranian citizenship - dual citizenship means that you are the citizen of two countries, and have the same rights as anyone else from either country.

Before her arrest Nazanin lived in London with her husband Richard Ratcliffe, who is an accountant.

She worked as a project manager for a charity called the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

In 2016 she travelled to Iran to visit her parents with her daughter, who at that time was a baby.

Nazanin had taken Gabriella to visit her Iranian grandparents three times before without any problems.

Nazanin, pictured here with husband Richard, was arrested at an Iranian airport in April 2016

But during this visit she was arrested and accused of plotting to overthrow the Iranian government - something she has always denied.

She was sent to prison for five years and spent the final year of her sentence on parole at her parents home in Tehran, the country's capital city.

But in April 2021, she was sentenced to a further year in prison and a one-year travel ban after being found guilty of spreading false information against the Iranian government.

UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss denounced the decision as "an appalling continuation of the cruel ordeal" Nazanin was going through.

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe has mostly spoken publicly through her husband, who has said she missed her daughter "all the time".

What was life like for Gabriella?

Gabriella has been counting down the days until her mother's release - on a calendar she made herself

For the first five years of her life Gabriella lived with her grandparents in Tehran, so she was still able to see her mother.

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe said the weekly visits from her daughter kept her going during her imprisonment.

But in 2019 the family decided that Gabriella should return to the UK so as she could start school.

Her dad said the decision was a big adjustment for the five-year-old as they had "always talked about how she was going to come home with Mummy".

After Nazanin was released on parole, things got better for the family and they were able to speak twice a day over video calls.

What has led to Nazanin's release?

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe took this picture to show her on the plane flying back home to the UK

During the six years in which Nazanin was held in Iran, the UK government made appeals to the Iranian government for her release.

UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said that further negotiations with Iran had been taking place over the past few months.

On Wednesday 16 March she had her British passport returned to her and boarded a plane home.

Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe's husband says Nazanin was told she was being held in order to force the UK to pay millions of pounds to Iran over a situation going back to the 1970s.

Iran claimed that the UK owed the country £400m, for a cancelled order of military tanks.

Announcing Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe's release, Liz Truss said the debt had been settled "in parallel", and "in full compliance with UK and international sanctions and all legal obligations".

Both countries have said the payment should not be linked to the pair's release.

Are any other people from the UK being held in Iran?

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori arrive back in the UK

Another British-Iranian, Anoosheh Ashoori, was arrested in 2017. He was held in prison accused of spying, a claim he denied.

Like Nazanin he has also now arrived back in the UK.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was "delighted they will be reunited with their families and loved ones".

A third man of dual British and Iranian nationality, Morad Tahbaz, has been released from prison but will not be returning to the UK with them.

Liz Truss said, "We will continue to work to secure Morad's departure from Iran".