The family of Anoosheh Ashoori say they can finally ‘rebuild’ after news of his release.
His wife and children awaited his return from Iran this evening with ‘cake and beer’ at the ready.
Mr Ashoori was flown back to the UK alongside fellow British-Iranian national Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.
A routine trip to see his elderly mother had taken a horrific turn in 2017, when he was bundled into a van and rushed away from the streets of Tehran.
Two gruelling years later, and the retired engineer was sentenced to 12 years in the notorious Evin prison.
Years of anguish followed for Mr Ashoori in Iran and for relatives back home in the UK.
But today, his family are ‘over the moon’ at news of his long-awaited release.
Mr Ashoori’s daughter, pastry chef Elika, even found time to make a small cake ahead of their reunion.
The family also have champagne and beer lined up to celebrate.
Elika told Sky News: ’It’s been very surreal.
‘We have been waiting for this moment for about five years now and my dad has not seen the light of day for that long.
‘Tonight we’re happy that he will be reunited with us and finally be able to sleep in a comfortable bed.’
Elika and her brother Aryan have said they will ‘tread carefully’ after their father returns home, due to the trauma he will bring from Iran.
In January, Mr Ashoori began a hunger strike ‘in the hope of bringing global attention’ to those held in Iranian prisons.
He even recorded a message to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, pleading for help.
On two occasions, the weary Mr Ashoori attempted to take his own life due to such low morale.
In Britain, a similar sense of resignation had befallen his family.
While she still spent day upon day campaigning for his release, Mr Ashoori’s wife Sherry Izadi once admitted there was ‘no hope in hell’ of her husband being released.
But now, she can look forward to the chance to ‘start all over again.’
She told Sky News: ‘Honestly we have missed doing so many ordinary things together, we’ve missed birthdays, we’ve missed Christmases.
‘We’ve missed walking the dog, taking a simple holiday, sitting together drinking a cup of coffee, just walking hand in hand in our local park.
‘All of this we have to start all over again. We have to pick up life where it was left off very abruptly and just try and find a semblance of the life that we had been sort of been on hiatus from for the last five years.’
But after years of torment both home and abroad, she added that campaigning won’t stop any time soon.
She said her husband will go ‘full force’ into working toward the release of those imprisoned in Iran.
Mr Ashoori’s son Aryan added that the problem of other dual nationals being held in detention remained.
He added: ‘I feel like a major battle has been won but the war is far from over in terms of justice.’
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