VIDEO: Iran frees British citizens Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Ashoori after debt paid

Two British citizens who had been jailed in Iran for more than five years — a charity worker and a retired civil engineer — were on their way home Wednesday after the UK government settled a decades-old debt to Iran.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 43, and Anoosheh Ashoori, 67, landed in Oman following a two-hour flight from Tehran, and were expected to arrive in Britain late on Wednesday.

Omani state television said the pair had arrived in the capital Muscat following their release in Tehran.

Earlier, a video aired by Iran's Tasnim news agency, affiliated to the elite Revolutionary Guards, showed a woman dressed in black Iranian Islamic clothes, boarding a Royal Air Force of Oman aircraft.

"I am very pleased to confirm that the unfair detention of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashouri in Iran has ended today, and they will now return to the UK," Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Twitter.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe smiles in a selfie on a plane leaving Iran. AP

The British government said a third detainee, Morad Tahbaz, who holds US, British and Iranian citizenship, was released from prison on furlough as part of the same deal.

The breakthrough was reached as world leaders try to negotiate the return of both Iran and the US to an international agreement designed to limit Tehran’s nuclear enrichment programme — talks that have been complicated by the prisoner issue. Negotiators have edged closer to a roadmap for restoring the accord, though recent Russian demands slowed progress.

"Looking forward to a new life,″ said Richard Ratcliffe, who has worked tirelessly for his wife’s release and planned to greet his wife at a British military base with their 7-year-old daughter, who had already picked out the toys she wants to show her mother.  "You can’t get back the time that’s gone. That’s a fact," Ratcliffe said. "But we live in the future.″

Richard Ratcliffe poses for pictures with his daughter Gabriella following a press briefing outside his house in London. AFP

The release of Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Ashoori comes as the US, Britain and other countries seek to secure the release of dozens of dual nationals detained by Iran, which doesn’t recognise their right to hold citizenship in another country.

Iran's top diplomat Hossein Amirabdollahian on Wednesday said Britain had paid its debt a few day ago, denying any links between the payment of the debt of $530 million and the release of the prisoners.

Iran's judiciary and Britain confirmed the releases and state media said Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Ashouri were handed over to a British team at the airport and left Tehran.

Agencies