BRITISH-IRANIAN charity worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was temporarily released from a Tehran jail yesterday.

Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who has spent 873 days in Evin prison, was reunited with her four-year-old daughter Gabriella after being allowed out for three days.

She is serving a five-year sentence for alleged spying, but she has consistently denied the charges.

Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe, from Hampstead, north London, says she was on holiday in Iran to introduce her daughter to her family in the country.

The 39-year-old was released yesterday morning and is now staying with relatives in Damavand, just outside the capital, according to the Free Nazanin campaign.

Her husband Richard Ratcliffe welcomed the “good step,” saying: “Despite the build-up, today was a genuine surprise after all the disappointments.

“We have been burned by hope before, so it had been easier to presume disappointment would come again.

“But it didn't. She is outside those prison walls. And we are all so pleased.”

Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe said: “I was so emotional to see my grandmother today. I cried so much. I felt so overwhelmed. My dad's home is not my home, but it is so much better than prison.”

Her lawyer will apply to extend her release and several of her cellmates who were initially granted the same three-day release remain out of prison more than a month later.

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt welcomed the news, adding: “Being in prison at all is gross injustice and she must be permanently released, for which every effort will continue.”