Daughter of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe returns to UK

The five-year-old has spent most of her life in Iran following the arrest of her mother

Richard Ratcliffe, the husband of jailed British-Iranian aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, sits with his daughter Gabriella during a press conference in London. Reuters

After three years in exile the daughter of detained Briton Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has finally been able to hug and kiss her father.

Gabriella, five, remained in Iran after her mother was arrested in April 2016 in Tehran as the pair were due to fly back to the UK at the end of a family visit.

Since then she has lived in Iran with her grandparents and has only been allowed to see her mother once a week on prison visits.

Her father Richard Ratcliffe was refused a visa to visit them and the family recently made the decision that she should return to the UK to live with him so she can attend school.

The youngster's plane landed UK shortly before midnight on Thursday.

Just hours after being reunited with her father the pair held a press conference in the UK's Houses of Parliament on Friday.

Squeezing his daughter tightly, Mr Ratcliffe said he was filled with joy to have her back home.

"It is a very happy day," he said.

"It's lovely to have her back. I last saw her when she was one and three-quarters and now she is five with her own views. She has been very brave.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s daughter embraces her father after returning to the UK from Iran where her mother is in prison on espionage charges. Courtesy Richard Ratcliffe

"She is a bit shy and traumatised and there is a language problem. It has been very emotional."

Despite the language barrier, Mr Ratcliffe revealed she was able to tell him she loves him and has repeatedly asked to visit London's world renown Hamley's toy store.

Eating a cake and cutting a piece for her father, the youngster told the crowd she likes chocolate cake.

Earlier her new life in the UK had begun with a bowl of Coco Pops cereal for breakfast.

Mr Ratcliffe has asked prime minister Boris Johnson to meet them both in a bid to see his wife freed.

He said: "I appreciate Mr Johnson is quite distracted at the moment. We looked to him once before to be our hero and now he has got another chance.

British-Iranian woman Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe with her husband Richard Ratcliffe and their daughter Gabriella before her detention in April 2016. EPA

"He undertook as foreign secretary to leave no stone unturned and it is my job to hold him to account and hold him to his promise. He has my full confidence to get it sorted."

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a charity administrator and British-Iranian dual national, is seeking release on health grounds from prison after being jailed for five years on unspecified espionage charges.

Her supporters say she is being used as a pawn in the diplomatic battle between the UK and Iran. They have fought a vocal campaign for her release.

The family’s MP, Tulip Siddiq, said her captivity is linked to the UK's £400m debt owned to Iran over the cancelled sale of tanks four decades ago.

She said: “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.

"The fight does not end her."

Mr Ratcliffe said he has spoken to his wife and says she is "distraught".

He added: "She is really upset. She did not want her daughter to leave and her still be stuck in prison. I am worried about her and I think she will deteriorate."