Elika Ashoori: We Have Gone on Hunger Strike to Support Nazanin Zaghari’s Husband

Elika Ashoori, the daughter of Anousheh Ashoori, a dual-national citizen imprisoned in Iran, has joined the hunger strike of Nazanin Zaghari’s husband in front of the building of the British Foreign Office.

Elika Ashoori said on Tuesday, November 9, in an interview with Voice of America, that the reason for her participation in the hunger strike alongside Richard Ratcliffe is to pressure the British government, and stated that the families of these dual-national prisoners find themselves in similar circumstances, and the Ashoori family, by joining this hunger strike, is declaring their support and solidarity with Mr. Ratcliffe.

Elika Ashoori, who is conducting the hunger strike alongside her brother, told Voice of America that if British authorities do not respond to this hunger strike, with the help of Amnesty International and other human rights organizations, they will pressure the British government to take necessary measures for the release of imprisoned dual-national citizens in Iran.

The daughter of this dual-national prisoner, referring to the British government’s 400 million pound debt to the Iranian government, which is related to Iran’s military purchase agreement with Britain in the 1970s, said: “These prisoners are rotting away in prison without their families, and many families whose lives have been destroyed, all because of money.”

Ms. Ashoori also added that the family of this dual-national prisoner will soon meet with British authorities.

Anousheh Ashoori, a 67-year-old retired engineer who went to Iran in August 2017 for a family visit, was arrested and sentenced to prison. Iranian judicial authorities have rejected Mr. Ashoori’s request for conditional release and reconsideration of his 10-year prison sentence.

Richard Ratcliffe had previously told Voice of America that the Islamic Republic in recent years has taken more dual-national citizens as hostages compared to the past in order to obtain concessions and money from European governments.