British-Iranians reunited with family in UK

British-Iranians reunited with family in UK

LONDON: Two British-Iranians imprisoned for years in Iran were reunited with their families in the early hours yesterday, tears of joy and long hugs marking the culmination of years of campaigning and earlier false hopes. Their release on Wednesday came as the British government confirmed it had paid a longstanding debt over a cancelled defense contract, and as major powers inch closer to renewing the Iran nuclear deal in Vienna.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 43, a project manager for the Thomson Reuters Foundation, and 67-year-old engineer Anoosheh Ashoori touched down at RAF Brize Norton in southwest England just after 01:00 am (0100 GMT), following a stopover in Oman. Both appeared relaxed, smiling and waving briefly at the cameras before heading towards the building where their families were waiting.

As they stepped out of the plane, Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s seven-year-old daughter Gabriella could be heard asking “Is that mummy?” and then shouting “Mummy!” as she recognized her, a live video showed. The footage, posted on Instagram by Ashoori’s daughter Elika, streamed the two families’ first meeting after years of enforced separation – Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been detained since 2016, and Ashoori since 2017.

Gabriella ran towards her mother as the released pair entered the room, and loud sobbing could