British-Iranian charity worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been reunited with her daughter and husband after six years of detention in Iran.
In a tear-jerking scene, the couple embraced for the first time at RAF Brize Norton while their now seven-year-old daughter Gabriella was heard asking "is that mummy?" per HuffPost.
The reunion marks the end of a hellish six years for Zaghari-Ratcliffe and the conclusion of intensive negotiations between UK and Iranian officials, with the UK settling a 40-year £400 million debt with the nation.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe, now 43, was visiting family in 2016 when she was arrested by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and charged with plotting against the government. Despite ardently denying the accusations, she was sentenced to five years in Iran's notorious Evin Prison - where she has been detained ever since.
Gabriella - who was just 22 months at the time of her mother's arrest - lived with her maternal grandparents in Iran for three and a half years so she could visit her mom in prison each week.
In October 2019, she returned to the UK to live with her father Richard Ratcliffe. The family hoped that Zaghari-Ratcliffe would follow soon. However, it was another two and a half years before the charity worker was finally freed and allowed to return to the UK.
Pictures soon surfaced online of the family's emotional reunion, at which husband and wife embraced for the first time since she traveled to Iran in 2021.
UK foreign secretary Liz Truss spoke about the happy moment at the airbase. "It’s been very emotional, but also a really happy moment for the families, and I’m pleased to say that both Nazanin and Anoosheh are in good spirits and they’re safe and well back here in Britain," she said per HuffPost.
Like Zaghari-Ratcliffe, Ashoori was detained in Elvin prison, where he spent almost five years after being found guilty of spying. The retired civil engineer continuously denied the charges brought against him. He was greeted by his family at the airbase.
