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A BBC News presenter fought back tears today as she announced Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe had been freed from Iran.

The British aid worker spent almost six years trapped in an Iranian jail but is now finally on her way home to London to reunite with her husband daughter.

British-Iranian aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has finally been freed from Iran
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British-Iranian aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has finally been freed from IranCredit: Reuters
BBC News presenter Joanna Gosling fought back tears while announcing her release
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BBC News presenter Joanna Gosling fought back tears while announcing her releaseCredit: BBC
The mum will soon reunite with her daughter Gabriella
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The mum will soon reunite with her daughter GabriellaCredit: PA

Reporting on her imminent freedom this morning, BBC journalist Joanna Gosling choked up with emotion.

She was forced to apologise for pausing her broadcast due to the long-awaited "moving moment".

Referring also to the release of Anoosheh Ashoori, who had been held for nearly five years, Joanna added: "These are people who have been detained for some time."

Nazanin was arrested in 2016 after a holiday to the country with her daughter Gabriella.

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She was accused of plotting to overthrow Iran's government, which she denied.

The British-Iranian mum was thrown in jail for five years, where she was interrogated for up to nine hours at a time in solitary confinement and threatened with execution, and served another year under house arrest.

There were fears she would never return to the UK, but she was yesterday handed back her British passport after six years being held prisoner.

And later today she will at last be reunited with her husband Richard and little Gabriella.

Nazanin beamed aboard her freedom flight home in a heartwarming photo.

Richard has since said he is "deeply grateful" for her release and that their daughter is "looking forward to a new life".

He also revealed she has asked him to make her a cup of tea on her arrival back in Britain.

"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 when she comes back.

"There is a big grin on her face in that photo. It is going to be lovely to see her, lovely to catch up with her.

"We've chosen which toys we're taking so that she can get to see them."

'MUMMY COMING HOME'

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said she was "delighted" by the news of Nazanin's return.

Speaking at the Foreign Office in London, she said: "I just want to say my sympathies are with the families for what they've suffered over this appalling time and I'm delighted to be welcoming them back to the UK later today."

A lawyer, who worked with Nazanin's family to help secure her release, said she too felt "enormous relief".

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Penny Madden QC she added: "It's been an absolute roller-coaster for the family over the last few days - huge excitement, huge optimism tempered with real anxiety.

"It's been six very, very long years."

SIX YEARS OF HELL: NAZANIN'S LONG FIGHT FOR FREEDOM

A timeline of Nazanin's six years of hell

April 3, 2016: Nazanin is detained at Tehran airport after a holiday visit to show Gabriella to her parents.

July 12, 2016: Richard Ratcliffe goes to Downing St to press PM Theresa May on his wife's 100th day in office.

September 9, 2016: Nazanin is jailed for five years following for plotting to overthrow the government.

April 24, 2017: Nazanin loses her appeal.

November 6, 2017: Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson wrongly says Nazanin was "training journalists" when she was arrested. Iran weaponises his comments to claim she was spreading anti-regime propaganda.

November 15, 2017: Richard says Nazanin has seen a medical specialist and is "on the verge of a nervous breakdown".

August 23, 2018: Nazanin is given temporary release from jail for three days.

December 29: Nazanin marks her 1,000th day in prison.

March 28, 2020: She is given temporary prison release but placed under house arrest.

March 7, 2021: Her sentence is due to end - but she suddenly faces a new conviction.

April 26, 2021: She is given an extra one year in jail.

November 17, 2021: Boris Johnson considers sending a "crate of cash" to settle the £400million debt.

March 15, 2022: Iran hands back her passport and a talks for her release intensify

March 16, 2022: Nazanin is finally freed and heads to Tehran airport

Nazanin smiling on board her freedom flight home
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Nazanin smiling on board her freedom flight home
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