Mehran Karimi Nasseri

Mehran Karimi Nasseri
Born	مهران کریمی ناصری Mehran Karimi Nasseri 1942 (age 74–75) Masjed Soleiman, Iran
Nationality	Iranian (1942–1977) Stateless (1977–present)

Mehran Karimi Nasseri (مهران کریمی ناصری pronounced [mehˈrɒn kʲæriˈmi nɒseˈri]; born 1942), also known as Sir Alfred Mehran, is an Iranian refugee who lived in the departure lounge of Terminal One in Charles de Gaulle Airport from 26 August 1988 until July 2006, when he was hospitalized for an unspecified ailment. His autobiography has been published as a book (The Terminal Man) and was the basis for the 2004 Tom Hanks movie The Terminal.

Nasseri was born in the Anglo-Persian Oil Company settlement located in Masjed Soleiman, Iran. His father was an Iranian physician 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.

Nasseri claims 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 has been disputed.

Having claimed to have one British parent, although he has produced no evidence to support this, he decided to settle in the UK in 1986, but en route there in 1988, his papers were lost when his briefcase was stolen. Despite this setback, he boarded the plane for London but was promptly returned to France when he failed to present a passport to British immigration officials. He was initially arrested by the French, but then released as his entry to the airport was legal and he had no country of origin to be returned to; thus began his residency at Terminal 1.

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