Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe made pizzas with her young daughter Gabriella on Friday as she settled back into life in the UK.
Tulip Siddiq, her local MP, said that “every day moments” with her little girl was “what she missed most” during her detention in an Iranian prison.
Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 43, returned back to Britain on Wednesday after spending nearly six years in Iranian detention. She had been detained at Tehran airport in 2016 and accused of attempting to overthrow the Iranian government, a charge she vigorously denied.
On Thursday she was pictured smiling with her husband Richard and their daughter Gabriella, 7, among the daffodils in what their local MP termed their “first family selfie” since her release.
So lovely to have uplifting conversations with Richard and Nazanin today.
— Tulip Siddiq (@TulipSiddiq) March 17, 2022
They are both relentless in their pursuit of justice and raised the plight of Morad Tahbaz with me. Here I was hoping to sleep for a week…
Here’s their first family selfie! #NazaninIsFree pic.twitter.com/mBzLByA36u
Neighbours of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe on Friday promised “the mother of all parties” to celebrate her homecoming after six years in detention in Iran.
Residents in the close knit apartment block in West Hampstead have been posting messages on their WhatsApp group in anticipation of her joining them again.
One of the neighbours told the Standard: “We are going to give her the mother of all parties. We are so excited that finally our neighbour is coming back. We see Richard and their daughter Gabriella all the time and have shown all the support we can. It’s been heartbreaking for them.
“They are a wonderful family and we are all close here and want to give Nazanin the welcome she deserves. We are all like one family here.”
Nazanin told me that this is what she missed most while she was imprisoned - every day moments with her little girl.
— Tulip Siddiq (@TulipSiddiq) March 18, 2022
Today was Gabriella's choice of making homemade pizzas for lunch ❤️#NazaninIsFree pic.twitter.com/8moJ5rw59T
Another said: “Our WhatsApp group is full of messages of celebration and joy. Nazanin will get a heroes welcome. I’m sure there will be some balloons and a party. I can only imagine what the family have been through.
As neighbours we will do everything we can to try to ease her back into normal life.”
A third said: “Richard has been amazingly strong getting on with family life the best he can, we never thought the day would come when she would be back amongst us.”
Another said: “There’s lots of smiley emojis being shared by us neighbours at the moment.”