Susanna Reid became emotional as she spoke about Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe being reunited with her young daughter after six years in detention in Iran.
Nazanin landed at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire at around 1.15am, where she was reunited with her husband Richard Ratcliffe and their daughter Gabriella, who had refused to believe her mother was coming home after several ‘false dawns’.
An emotional video shows the seven-year-old yelling ‘mummy, mummy – is that mummy?’ as Nazanin walks down the steps of a British jet.
Tearful: Susanna Reid became emotional as she spoke about Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe being reunited with her young daughter after six years in detention in Iran
The charity worker spent 2,173 days of tortuous detention by Ayatollah Khamenei’s hardline regime thanks to the trumped-up spying charges she was convicted of.
Watching the moment Nazanin was reunited with her daughter, Good Morning Britain presenter Susanna appeared to become emotional.
As she spoke about Nazanin’s husband Richard’s dedicated years of campaigning to free his wife, her voice seemed to crack as she said he had ‘done absolutely the right thing at every stage’.
She said: ‘Richard Ratcliffe made the decision to openly campaign, to go on hunger strike.
Adorable: This is the moment Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was reunited with her husband Richard Ratcliffe and their daughter Gabriella at RAF Brize Norton
‘He had been warned it could risk Nazanin’s life and the risk that he took in order to speak out was hugely courageous and as a result brought everyone with him. As the huge response from viewers comes in, everyone is invested in Nazanin’s story.’
An emotional Susanna said Richard must have been ‘walking on eggshells’ as she referenced the difficulties of the lengthy release effort.
‘Richard must have been walking on eggshells the entire time, worried about saying the right thing. He has done absolutely the right thing at every stage,’ she added.
Richard’s relentless campaigning since 2016 helped secure his wife’s freedom, bringing a close to her momentous journey back home to the UK.
An extraordinary video – filmed by the daughter of Anoosheh Ashoori, 67, who was also released by Iran yesterday in return for a £400million debt repayment – showed Nazanin reunite with her daughter.
Home at last: The Zaghari-Ratcliffe family are finally reunited after Nazanin was detained for nearly six years in Iran
During one tender embrace Gabriella tells her: ‘You smell nice’, to which her mother laughs and hugs her again saying: ‘Do I smell nice? I haven’t had a shower for 24 hours. Is that okay?’.
They hug again as Richard says: ‘She smells nice to daddy’.
Nazanin then holds her daughter’s hand again and says: ‘I will be back in just a minute’ and then looks down at her and says: ‘That is a very very cool jumper’.
Gabriella had also picked out her favourite toys to show her mother on her return.
The moment Richard and Gabriella were reunited was not filmed – though the tears of joy could be heard – but a picture of the ecstatic family was taken seconds later.
Sweet: Nazanin holds her daughter close after landing on British soil for the first time in six years in the early hours of this morning
The family were met by Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, who signed off on the £400m debt owed by Britain to Tehran from the 1970s that secured her release, before being moved to a safe house where Nazanin, Richard and Gabriella shared a bed together after so long apart, Richard’s sister Rebecca Ratcliffe said today.
The couple’s local MP Tulip Siddiq said that the family are now going to have to rebuild their life together, while former hostage Terry Waite said it will take Nazanin ‘some time’ to recover from the ‘trauma’ she has suffered in Iranian prison.
Ms Siddiq said: ‘They are very different people now. There is going to be a huge process of getting to know each other again and Gabriella has to trust her mother again as well’.
Nazanin and her family are in government accommodation today. It is not known if or when they will return to their north London home.
Her sister-in-law Rebecca Ratcliffe told the BBC: ‘We’ve had a beautiful photo of Nazanin, Richard and Gabriella all together.
Emotional: Richard Ratcliffe has campaigned tirelessly for his wife’s release, including going on a hunger strike outside Ms Truss’ Foreign Office
‘Then they went back, they’re staying with Anousheh and his family in a safe house somewhere undisclosed.
‘And I suspect just had cups of tea and stuff and Gabriella slept in between Richard and Nazanin last night for the first time in six years, so a very special moment.
‘I’ve had a message from Richard this morning, everyone else is still asleep. I imagine they’re all pretty tired but he was certainly very buoyant this morning.
‘He just said that he’d had a busy day, a busy night, they got to sleep not long ago but it was lovely to be with his family again. But also interestingly he pointed out today’s the 17th March and six years ago on 17th March Nazanin flew out so there’s a certain amount of symmetry in his story.’
She also told Good Morning Britain: ‘Seeing that footage of her touching down in the arms of Richard and Gabriella was just really overwhelming.
Pure joy: Nazanin shares an emotional moment with her seven-year-old daughter Gabriella after landing back in the UK
‘It feels a little bit like Christmas morning, waiting for Santa and then Santa finally arriving.’
She said that the family has has several ‘close calls’ over the years ‘where there’ve been planes waiting to take her home or phone calls from the British Embassy that she’s about to come home, and so we’ve found it really hard this week to get too excited’.
Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Mr Ashoori, who was locked up in Evin prison for almost five years, were accused of plotting to overthrow the Iranian government and of spying respectively, which they have consistently and vigorously denied.
A third British detainee, Morad Tahbaz, has been released from prison on furlough but remains in Iran.
Nazanin’s husband Richard Ratcliffe said he was ‘deeply grateful’ for her release and that he and their daughter Gabriella were ‘looking forward to a new life’.
Finally reunited: Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, pictured holding her seven-year-old daughter Gabriella and with her husband Richard, and Anoosheh Ashoori with family members including his daughter Elika after landing in the UK this morning
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