The five-year-old daughter of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has arrived back in the UK.
Gabriella had spent three and a half years living in Iran with her grandparents, visiting her British-Iranian mother in the notorious Evin Prison when the Iranian authorities would allow.
Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arrested in Tehran in 2016 and sentenced to five years in prison after being accused of spying. She denies the charge.
Her husband Richard Ratcliffe has been campaigning for his wife to be released from prison. The pair decided Gabriella should return home to the UK so she can start school.
Mr Ratcliffe said of his daughter’s return: “Gabriella came back to us late at night, a bit uncertain seeing those she only remembered from the phone.
“Now she is peacefully sleeping next to me. And I am just watching.
“It has been a long journey to have her home, with bumps right until the end – and I am grateful to all those at the British Embassy and Iranian MFA who helped smooth all those last blockages.
“Of course the job is not yet done until Nazanin is home.
” It was a hard goodbye for Nazanin and all her family. But let us hope this homecoming unlocks another. “
Gabriella’s return to Britain brings with it fresh challenges for the family.
After 1, 300 days in Iran, away from her father and being brought up in an Iranian household, Gabriella can no longer speak English.
It also means that having been separated from her father for years, she will now be separated from her mother , leaving behind the life she has known since she was a toddler.
The family’s MP Tulip Siddiq said: “Richard and Nazanin have made a decision that no family should have to make.
” It is heart-warming to see Gabriella reunited with her father after 1, 300 days in Iran, but heart-breaking that she is separated from her mother Nazanin.
“Iran must end their hostage diplomacy and release my innocent constituent. Britain should also solve its long running debt issue with Iran.
“Nazanin is at breaking point, and today is yet another reminder that she has been failed at the very highest levels of government, “added the Labor MP for Hampstead and Kilburn in London.
Evin Prison has been described by freed inmates as a “black hole” and it is where political prisoners are tortured.
The Iranian regime claims Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe was plotting against the state when she was arrested on a visit to the country to see her parents with Gabriella.
She was visiting her family for Nowruz, the Persian New Year festival, with her then 22 – month-old daughter, when she was detained by the Iranian authorities.
Since her detention by Iran Revolutionary Guard as the pair prepared to board a flight back to the UK, her health has deteriorated, she has had little physical contact with Gabriella, she has been on hunger strike and has repeatedly had her hopes of being released, dashed.
In March, Britain granted Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe diplomatic protection – elevating the British-Iranian dual national’s case from a consular matter to a state issue between Lond
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