Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s daughter Gabriella returns to the UK: ‘Let us hope this homecoming unlocks another’

The five-year-old daughter of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has returned to the UK.

Gabriella flew back late last night with a member of close family, in what the family's MP Tulip Siddiq (Lab, Hampstead and Kilburn) described as "a decision no family should have to make".

Overnight, after Richard Ratcliffe was reunited with his daughter, he said: "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."

With his family partially reunited, Richard reiterated the need to get Nazanin home too.

He added: "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."

Tulip Siddiq, who is holding a press conference with the family later today, added: "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 1300 days in Iran, but heart-breaking that she is separated from her mother Nazanin."

She called again on Iran to end "hostage diplomacy" and release Nazanin - who is now very frail in Evin Prison in Tehran.

She had been held since April 2016.

Tulip added: "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."