Yahoo News Watch: Moment Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is reunited for first hug with daughter, 7, and husband
The daughter of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe slept between both her parents for the first time in six years last night, after her mother was freed from Iran.
Gabriella Ratcliffe and her father Richard were reunited with Zaghari-Ratcliffe in the early hours of Thursday morning, after Iranian authorities handed her back her passport and allowed her to leave.
The little girl, now seven, was only a baby when her mother was accused of plotting to overthrow the Iranian government, and arrested in April 2016 while on a visit to introduce her then-baby daughter to her parents.
On Wednesday, Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 43, and fellow British-Iranian Anoosheh Ashoori, 67, left Iran after their release was finally secured.
Ashoori was arrested in August 2017 while visiting his elderly mother in Tehran and accused of spying.
Both have consistently and vigorously denied the allegations.
The pair arrived on UK soil just after 1am on a chartered flight following a seven-hour flight from Oman.
An emotional video was shared live on Instagram by Ashoori’s daughter Elika as the pair disembarked the plane at RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe's daughter Gabriella was heard asking “is that mummy?” and again shouted “mummy” as her mother walked down the plane’s stairs.
In the heart-wrenching video the pair are seen tearfully hugging their families just minutes after landing.
Gabriella shouts "Mummy", before racing over to her ecstatic mother who bursts into tears.
Ratcliffe, 45, hangs back for a second, watching his wife and daughter meet again, before joining the pair behind a screen to be together as a free family for the first time in six years.
She then carried the little girl in her arms as they were surrounded by other family members.
After their reunion, Ratcliffe's sister told BBC Breakfast that Gabriella slept between both her parents for the first time since she was a baby.
"They didn't get back to their safe house until three, so I think lots of cups and tea and settling in and then sleep.
"I can tell you that Richard and Gabriella and Nazanin all slept together in one bed last night for the first time in six years.
"When I last heard from Richard not too long ago, Nazanin and Gabriella were catching up on some well-earned rest."
She added that their first day was likely to be "quiet and subdued" but full of "lots of cuddles and smiles".
Ashoori was also reunited with his family on Thursday, who were in tears as they embraced.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe then appeared in the video and hugged and kissed her daughter, and asked her “do I smell nice?” before holding her hands.
She also hugged members of the Ashoori family.
In a message shared online, Zaghari-Ratcliffe's family said: "No place like home. Thank you to everyone who made this possible, to all of the care and campaigning, and diplomatic efforts. You have made us whole."
Their release brings to an end almost six years of negotiations and months of intensive diplomatic relations between London and Tehran, including the eventual payment of an outstanding £400m debt owed by Britain to the regime.
Foreign secretary Liz Truss, who is at RAF Brize Norton for their arrival, said on Twitter: "Delighted that Nazanin and Anoosheh have landed safely in the UK and are reunited with their families and loved ones. Welcome home."
The families are understood to be staying in government organised accommodation before going to their homes.
Speaking on Wednesday, after the news of Zaghari-Ratcliffe's release was made public, her husband said they would spend some time alone as a family before starting their new life.
"There will probably be a couple of days peace and quiet somewhere else, and then back here," he said.
"The first thing she wanted was for me to make her a cup of tea, so we will do (that). I think actually we were looking at the house and it needs a bit of tidying, so there might be a bit of tidying, perhaps directed by mummy."
On Wednesday night, Tulip Siddiq, who is Richard’s MP, told ITV’s Peston programme about how Zaghari-Ratcliffe had been able to come home.
She said: “She was contacted by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards in Iran over the weekend and asked to come in for questioning, and quite apprehensive – she messaged me before she went. To her utter surprise, at the end of the questioning, and there were some scare tactics in there, she was given her British passport back.
“Bearing in mind she hasn’t seen her British passport since the 23 April 2016. But just as she was about to leave the door, they said to her, ‘don’t book your own flight, we will sort out the flights for you’.
“So after that, I had an idea that she would be coming back, but it’s always touch and go with these things – we’ve had so many false dawns, I didn’t know for sure.”
