The wife of a British citizen who has been held in an Iranian jail for four years pleaded with Boris Johnson yesterday to show he “genuinely cares” about securing her husband’s release.
The family of Anoosheh Ashoori, 67, a retired engineer, say it has been “hell” since he was arrested on a visit to Iran and later convicted of spying for Israel, which he denies.
He is serving a ten-year sentence in an “overcrowded and unhygienic cell” in Evin prison, Tehran, where others with dual nationality, including Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe have been held.
In a letter to The Times today, Sherry Izadi, Ashoori’s wife, insists the charges were fabricated and accuses the prime minister of avoiding her request for a meeting to discuss the case.
“Boris Johnson says that the plight of Anoosheh . . . ‘remains a top priority’. Yet actions speak louder than words,” Izadi, of south London, writes.
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“It has been more than a year since our family requested a meeting with the prime minister. He is apparently unable to meet us.”
Johnson met Richard Ratcliffe in Downing Street last year. Zaghari-Ratcliffe, his 43-year-old wife, remains on bail at her parents’ home in Tehran.
Last month an Iranian newspaper suggested that Anoosheh and Zaghari-Ratcliffe were being considered for a prisoner swap along with American detainees but this was publicly denied by the Biden administration.
The Foreign Office said that the government continued to raise Ashoori’s case with Iran. A spokesperson added: “Iran’s continued arbitrary detention of our dual nationals is unacceptable and is a stain on Iran’s international reputation. We urge the Iranian authorities to do the right thing and release the detainees.”
