Latest news with #AnooshehAshoori
Daily Mirror
16-07-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mirror
'Brit parents jailed in Iran fell into a common trap, there's only one way out'
Former Iranian hostage Anoosheh Ashoori believes that British couple Lindsay and Craig Foreman were detained in Iran on espionage charges after falling victim to a common 'trap' Former Iranian hostage, Anoosheh Ashoori has sent an urgent message about the power of hope to a "courageous" British couple jailed in Iran. Lindsay and Craig Foreman, a British couple, have spent over six months detained in Iran after they were arrested during a motorcycle trip across the world. But it wasn't just the adventure of a lifetime for the couple. They were also undertaking a project as they went, hoping to discover what makes up a good life, forge connections, and learn about strong communities. They had been travelling through Iran, and posting on social media about the wonderful interactions they had with people they met - when suddenly their family lost contact with the couple. They were arrested in early January by Iranian authorities on charges of espionage - something their family categorically denies. Anoosheh Ashoori, a British-Iranian businessman, was imprisoned in Tehran's infamous Evin Prison from 2017 until 2022. He was arrested when visiting his elderly mother in Iran, blindfolded and abducted in the back of a car before being convicted as being a spy for Israel, though he had never even been to the country. He was released alongside Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe in 2022, and he told the Mirror he "deeply admired" Lindsay and Craig's project. "Lindsay and Craig's project, I deeply admire their vision. Their commitment to human connection and building hope - even in uncertain or dangerous places - shows a kind of courage that is increasingly rare today." The 71 year old added that he wasn't surprised that the couple had posted so positively about their time in Iran before their arrest, but he called visiting Iran under the current regime "a trap". "Iran is home to a deeply hospitable people and an ancient, rich culture. But it is vital not to confuse the Iranian people with the Islamic regime. "For the past 47 years, Iran has been under the control of a corrupt theocracy. It is, in many ways, a nation under internal occupation - not by a foreign force, but by an ideology. "Lindsay and Craig's posts about the kindness of Iranians are understandable. Our people are generous, curious, and welcoming, which is why many travellers feel compelled to visit, despite the risks. The desire to connect with such a rich culture, which is over 7000 years old, is strong. However, the current regime can quickly turn that goodwill into a trap." Since his release from Evin, Anoosheh has worked with charities like Hostage International - for which he recently ran the London Marathon - and Amnesty International. With the latter, he produced an incredibly moving exhibition, entitled 'Surviving Evin' that featured a dried Morning Glory flower he managed to grow during his time in prison. Anoosheh had been given a packet of seeds by a fellow inmate, Jamal, after moving into a new ward of Evin Prison and initially feeling "adrift". With time and careful attention, he managed to grow beautiful pink flowers, that to him, and the other prisoners who visited him in what became known as 'Ashoori's Corner' became a powerful symbol of hope and positivity. The former hostage explained through his profound artwork that even in the "unbearable" living conditions, hope could still be found - and must be clung onto. "Without hope, I would not have survived even a single day in Evin. Hope is what keeps the human spirit from collapsing under unbearable conditions. It's the knowledge that you are not forgotten, that people outside are speaking up and doing all they can to save you. That alone can be life-saving," he explained. "There was a point when I lost hope completely - I attempted suicide three times. Fortunately, I survived. So when I read about [Lindsay and Craig's] weight loss, I understand it deeply. Even in brief calls, their loved ones must use every second to remind them: 'You are not forgotten. We are fighting for you.' That message is crucial." When asked what advice he would give to the Foreman's family - who have launched a campaign to secure the couple's release - Anoosheh told the Mirror, "My advice is clear: apply as much pressure as possible. "History has shown us that the UK government only responds to pressure from families and from the public. Speak out, and speak loudly. Keep pushing until results are achieved. Silence helps no one."
ABC News
29-06-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
Among all Israel's targets in Iran, the strikes at Evin Prison left some people 'in disbelief'
Interrogations. Torture. Mock executions. Accounts from inside Iran's Evin Prison are as harrowing as they are rare — many of those locked up inside never make it out. The notorious facility, on the outskirts of the country's capital Tehran, is used to house political prisoners who dare show dissent to the country's Islamist regime. In the final days of its war with Iran, Israel used fighter jets to bomb the jail, with the country's top politicians spinning the June 23 attack as a symbolic blow against its arch enemy. Yesterday, Asghar Jahangir, a spokesperson for Iran's judiciary, was quoted in the country's Mizan news outlet as saying 71 people had been killed in the attack. He said the number included "administrative staff, youth doing their military service, detainees, family members of detainees who were visiting them and neighbours who lived in the prison's vicinity". Analysts interpreted the strikes as a clear sign Israel had expanded its targets from just military and nuclear facilities. Anoosheh Ashoori, a British-Iranian engineer, was held in Evin prison from August 2017 to March 2022, after being accused of espionage. He said he was abducted in the street while back in Iran to visit his mother after she had a knee operation. He was bundled into a car, and his ordeal had begun. "They blindfolded me and they ordered me to put my head on the lap of the person sitting next to my left," he said. "After a while I could hear the traffic, the sound of the traffic fading." Mr Ahoori was taken to Evin Prison. Mr Ahoori said he was kept in solitary confinement, given "foul food", and prevented from sleeping, with a floodlight shined on his head. "It was so frightening," he said. "My days were in that 2 metre by 3 metre cell, with the sound of a malfunctioning air conditioning unit together with hearing all the sounds of crying, begging, whimpering of the others in the neighbouring cells." During his time in Evin Prison, Mr Ashoori said he spent 116 days at two interrogation centres, including one run by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. "The pressure was so much and the threats to kill my family members were so real," he said. "After a while of sleep deprivation, long hours of interrogation, I mean, you just name it and it's happening to you." A video shared by Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar on social media showed an entrance to the compound blown apart and the accompanying text: "Long live freedom, damn it!" However, doubt has now been cast over that footage, with experts telling ABC News Verify it could be AI-generated. That doesn't mean the jail wasn't hit, though. Last week, Defence Minister Israel Katz said the air force was striking "regime targets and agencies of government repression" across Tehran, including Evin Prison. Video broadcast on Iranian state television showed widespread destruction outside the facility, and emergency services carrying an injured man from the scene on a stretcher. The jail was built about 50 years ago and has gained notoriety since Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution. It now houses thousands of protesters, journalists, people accused of espionage, activists and academics. Human rights organisations have decried the number of inmates in Evin accused of arbitrary catch-all offences like "enmity against God" and "corruption on earth". Both are punishable by death and are used by Iran's regime as judicial trump cards to arrest dissidents. Australian academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert, who was arrested while attending a conference in Iran, spent more than two years in the jail on charges of espionage. She was eventually released in 2020 as part of a prisoner swap. The Australian government described the allegations against her as "baseless". Last week, she took to social media to post a video of Israel's strike on the facility and wrote: "Every single person who has ever passed under these gates, or has been forced to stand outside them to film the regime's propaganda, will be staring in disbelief at these scenes." The anti-regime group Edaalate Ali hacked Evin Prison's CCTV cameras in 2021 and leaked the footage to expose human rights abuses taking place behind its walls. In a post on the encrypted messaging service Telegram after Israel's attack, the organisation claimed Iranian authorities were trying to stop friends and relatives of people locked inside the jail from accessing the area. "Let's break the chains of captivity together and free political prisoners," it wrote in one update, before encouraging people to head to the compound and help the inmates escape. The footage it leaked made international headlines, and documented inmates being sexually harassed and beaten, as well as overcrowded cells and incidents of self-harm. The videos were so shocking, even Iran's top prisons official, Mohammad Mehdi Haj Mohammadi, described the behaviour they uncovered as "unacceptable". Amnesty International has documented multiple types of torture used at Evin Prison, including "floggings, electric shocks, mock executions, waterboarding, sexual violence, suspension, force-feeding of chemical substances, and deliberate deprivation of medical care". Iranian-Kurdish rapper Saman Yasin was incarcerated at the facility for two years for taking part in Iran's 2022 uprising. He has since detailed a "mock execution" he was subjected to, in which he was taken to a set of gallows and read his last rights. "I was under that noose for about 15 minutes, I think," he told CNN earlier this year. "I could tell that they had brought in a cleric, and he was reciting the Quran over my head … and he kept telling me: 'Repent, so that you go to heaven'." One man, who was born in the jail, has told the ABC about visiting his parents there as a child. He said he remembered an "ugly green hallway" and being interrogated by guards before entering. Iranian officials have this month encouraged the country's judiciary to expedite trials for anyone accused of "collaborating" with Israel — something that would result in execution. Israel's decision to bomb the jail has been criticised by the sister of one of its inmates. French woman Neomie Kohler, whose sibling Cecile and her partner Jacques Paris have been incarcerated at Evin Prison since May 2022 on spying charges they deny, said the IDF's attack put innocent people "in mortal danger". "This strike is completely irresponsible," she told the AFP news agency, adding: "This is really the worst thing that could have happened. "We have no news, we don't know if they are still alive. We're panicking," Amit Segal, the chief political analyst for Israel's Channel 12 news, said in a post on social media that the strike on Evin Prison meant Benjamin Netanyahu's government "appears to be flirting with regime change" in Iran. "This is an escalation by Israel, as it is now targeting not just Iranian military sites, but also Iranian institutions that oppress their own people — and don't directly affect Israel," he wrote. Governments in both Israel and the US repeatedly claimed during the 12-day war that they were not trying to affect the downfall of Iran's government and its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Although US President Donald Trump did take to social media during the fighting to ask "if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why couldn't there be a Regime change???"
Times
25-04-2025
- Times
London Marathon 2025: the stories that inspired runners to take part
From two unlikely friends who made a pact to run together while one was incarcerated in an Iranian jail, to a woman who lost her three closest relatives to cancer in just six years, Times readers reveal what inspired them to take on tomorrow's London Marathon. Simon Shercliff, 52, Suffolk Anoosheh Ashoori, now 71, was abducted by Iran's secret police in 2017 while visiting his mother, and held in the country's notorious Evin prison for more than six years. During his incarceration he made a pact with the British ambassador to Tehran, who helped negotiate his release — to run the marathon together should he be freed. I first met him in Tehran in November 2021, during a brief reprieve that he had been given
Yahoo
13-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Two British citizens detained in Iran
Two British citizens have been detained in Iran, the government has said. Both are being supported by the UK Foreign Office, according to a spokesperson. It comes following reports of the detention from Iranian state media yesterday. A spokesperson said: "We are providing consular assistance to two British Nationals detained in Iran and are in contact with the local authorities." Iranian state media said on Wednesday that a man and woman were in custody in Iran's southeastern city of Kerman on security-related charges. The Foreign Office warn that people are at risk of "arrest, detention and a death sentence" if they travel to Iran. The department says that Tehran does not recognise dual nationality, and people with Iranian citizenship will be considered Iranian. The Foreign Office states: "Recent media reports suggest Iran is willing to detain people who have been visiting relatives inside Iran. Having travelled to and from Iran previously without issue does not guarantee your safety." Iran has previously arrested and held British citizens for extended periods of time. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori, who are dual British-Iranian citizens, were released in March 2022 after years held captive in Iran. This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version. You can receive breaking news alerts on a smartphone or tablet via the Sky News app. You can also follow us on WhatsApp and subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep up with the latest news.
Sky News
13-02-2025
- Politics
- Sky News
Two British citizens detained in Iran
Two British citizens have been detained in Iran, the government has said. Both are being supported by the UK Foreign Office, according to a spokesperson. It comes following reports of the detention from Iranian state media yesterday. A spokesperson said: "We are providing consular assistance to two British Nationals detained in Iran and are in contact with the local authorities." Iranian state media said on Wednesday that a man and woman were in custody in Iran's southeastern city of Kerman on security-related charges. The Foreign Office warn that people are at risk of "arrest, detention and a death sentence" if they travel to Iran. The department says that Tehran does not recognise dual nationality, and people with Iranian citizenship will be considered Iranian. The Foreign Office states: "Recent media reports suggest Iran is willing to detain people who have been visiting relatives inside Iran. Having travelled to and from Iran previously without issue does not guarantee your safety." Iran has previously arrested and held British citizens for extended periods of time. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori, who are dual British-Iranian citizens, were released in March 2022 after years held captive in Iran. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.
