British woman and her Australian fiance released from Iranian prison

A British travel blogger and her Australian boyfriend have been released from prison in Iran, officials have confirmed.

Jolie King and her partner Mark Firkin were arrested in July for flying a drone without a licence in Tehran, the Iranian capital.

Australian foreign affairs minister Marise Payne today confirmed that they have been reunited with their family following 'very sensitive negotiations'.

She said: "It is with some enormous relief that I announce that they have been released and returned."

"We are extremely happy and relieved to be safely back in Australia with those we love,' the couple said in a statement issued by the foreign ministry on Saturday.

"While the past few months have been very difficult, we know it has also been tough for those back home who have been worried for us."

The couple were detained on spying charges in the notorious Evin prison, the same jail where Nazanin Zaghar-Ratcliffe is being held.

Miss Ratcliffe, who was jailed for five years in 2016 after being convicted of spying, told her husband that she spotted Miss King and she was "scared and disorientated" after being interrogated in the prison.

He said: "I know that the girl is now in with Nazanin, [she] came through scared and disoriented and obviously had been quite intimidated by being interrogated for all that time in solitary [confinement].

"In solitary, the only people you see in there are your interrogators and their job is to terrify you."

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Miss King and her boyfriend were allegedly flying their drone near Tehran to take picture to show how supposedly dangerous countries are "safe for visitors" for their travel blog.

The pair were undertaking a round-the-world driving expedition they had been documenting online that started in Western Australia and was due to finish in London before the “misunderstanding” which led to their arrests.

They were alleged to have used the drone to take pictures of 'military sites and forbidden areas', an Iranian judiciary spokesman said.

Reports at the time their arrests were suggested that the couple were being held as “bargaining chips” and part of a plan to facilitate a prisoner swap with Australia.

However, Payne confirmed that British-Australian academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert was still in Evin prison, where she has been for almost a year, having reportedly been handed a 10-year sentence.

Miss Payne said that all charges have now been dropped.

"For Jolie and for Mark, the ordeal that they have been through is now over.

"They are being united with their loved ones which is a source of great relief and joy to everyone.

"I can tell you that they are in good health and in good spirits."

The news comes after it emerged that Miss Ratcliffe will send her daughter home to the UK to start school.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been visited in prison by five-year-old Gabriella at least once a week for the past three years but will be back in London before Christmas, according to the Times.