Mehran Karimi Nasseri, also known as Sir Alfred Mehran, was an Iranian refugee who lived in the departure lounge of Terminal 1 at Charles de Gaulle Airport from 26 August 1988 until July 2006, when he was hospitalized.
Nasseri alleged that he was expelled from Iran in 1977 for protests against the Shah and after a long battle, involving applications in several countries, was awarded refugee status by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Belgium.
This allegedly permitted residence in many other European countries. However, this claim was disputed, with investigations showing that Nasseri was never expelled from Iran.
Nasseri’s story provided the inspiration for the 1993 French film Tombés du ciel, starring Jean Rochefort, internationally released under the title Lost in Transit.
His autobiography was published as a book, The Terminal Man, in 2004. Nasseri’s story inspired the 2004 film The Terminal.
Mehran Karimi Nasseri Parents: Who were Mehran Karimi Nasseri’s mother and father?
His father was an Iranian doctor working for the company. Nasseri stated that his mother was a nurse from Scotland working in the same place. He arrived in the United Kingdom in September 1973, to take a three-year course in Yugoslav studies at the University of Bradford.
After completing his education, he went back to Iran and came to know about the protests taking place against Mohammad Reza Shah.
He decided to join the revolution. Due to his political views and protests, he was eventually expelled from Iran in 1977.
After a constant struggle for a long period of time, he was finally granted the status of a refugee by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Belgium.
He was given the right to live and travel across Europe, and so he decided to live in the UK. He moved to the UK in 1986 and further decided to settle in London around 1988.