An Iranian father and his son, who had been left stranded in Syria after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government, have returned to Iran with the help of Russia.

According to The Iran Project, Ali Akbar Abutaleb Esfahani and his son had gone on a pilgrimage to Shiite holy sites in Syria, but were left stranded in the Arab country after the fall of Damascus to opposition groups.

The two Iranian citizens were first transferred to Russia’s Hmeimim airbase in southeast of the Syrian city of Latakia before flying to Moscow.

They were then taken back to Tehran following coordination among Russia and the Iranian diplomatic and security organizations.