have decided they no longer need to keep her hostage to put diplomatic pressure on the uk. and that s in part because the uk has paid iran a long standing debt. britain owed iran money for tanks sold in the 1970s, but never delivered after the revolution. the uk feared paying the debt would fund terrorism and breach sanctions. but in a deal finessed by the gulf state of oman, £393 million was finally transferred to iran today, money the government claims will be used for humanitarian purposes, thus avoiding the risk of sanctions. it isn t a ransom, it s a debt, and the point about debt is, first of all, we re a country that pays our debts. and secondly, if you owe a debt, you have to pay it whoever you owe it to. mrs zaghari ratcliffe s also been released because of diplomatic efforts above all by her husband, using everything from publicity to hunger strikes to put pressure on iran and british ministers, who did not always help matters, such as when
the payment of britain s debt through his country s central bank. i really hope what has been achieved here may stand as a beacon for future progress, notjust in the relationship between the uk and iran but also in international relations. certainly, broader international relations did also play a role. iran s economy has been struggling under international sanctions, less able to trade and sell oil, penalties it wants to see lifted as part of negotiations to secure a new deal, curbing the country s nuclear activities. that agreement s hanging in the balance. releasing detainees could help. for six years, politics kept nazanin zaghari ratcliffe apart from herfamily. now it s played a part in her release. james landale, bbc news. more than 122,000 british families have registered their interest to host
you know, again, it takes a lot of work and a lot of time, fortunately i have a wonderful family and employers and a community around me that was there to care for me and i know from six years of getting to know richard ratcliffe, that nazanin zaghari ratcliffe is coming home to a wonderful ally and partner. and let me show you these pictures of nazanin being reunited with her husband and daughter. daughter gabriella reportedly asked is that mummy? as nazanin came down the steps of the aircraft. images on social media showed the happy family, as well as a photo of all of them with anoosheh ashoori and his family. these moments are so precious for everyone involved after the days, weeks, months and years of waiting for that reunited
and they re safe and well, back here in britain. jason rezaian, a former tehran correspondent for the washington post, spent almost 18 months in the iranian capital s evin prison until his release in january 2016. he told the bbc that ms zaghari ratcliffe and mr ashoori would have suffered significant psychological trauma. during those ridiculous times when we were held in solitary confinement you are told consistently you won t come out of this place alive, that you will be executed, we have recorded in our state media you died in a car accident, you will find the rest of your life in prison juxtapose that with
both sides. thanks so much for coming on the programme. this is bbc news, the headlines: the authorities in the besieged ukrainian city of mariupol say a theatre that was being used by large numbers of civilians as a shelter has been destroyed by russian bombing. city officials say the building was deliberately targeted. russia has denied carrying out the attack. british iranian woman nazanin zaghari ratcliffe has arrived back in the uk for the first time in almost six years. her husband and seven year old daughter were waiting as her plane touched down. she had been detained in iran, after being accused of working against the government in tehran, something she denied. travelling with mrs zaghari ratcliffe was the british iranian man anoosheh ashoori, who has also been allowed to return to the uk.