Anoosheh Ashoori, Dual-National Prisoner, Appeals to Boris Johnson for Help in Audio Message from Iran Prison
The French News Agency reported that Anoosheh Ashoori, a British-Iranian dual-national prisoner, sent an audio message from inside Evin Prison to Boris Johnson, the British Prime Minister, requesting his help.
According to the French News Agency, the British-Iranian citizen, in this phone message recorded by his wife in London and made available to the news agency, told Boris Johnson that “we are facing despair and we need your help.”
Anoosheh Ashoori is a civil engineer who traveled to Iran approximately three years ago to visit his mother and was arrested. He has been sentenced to 12 years in prison and a fine of 33,000 euros on charges of spying for Israel. Anoosheh Ashoori’s wife previously described the charges against her husband as fabricated.
He continued by saying: “My fear is that the British government has forgotten about us.”
Anoosheh Ashoori had previously, in April of this year and coinciding with his 66th birthday, requested his release by sending an audio message from Evin Prison.
Since the outbreak of the coronavirus, the Islamic Republic has released some dual-national citizens such as Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe from prison on furlough, but others like Anoosheh Ashoori and Siamak Namazi remain imprisoned.
Western analysts say the Islamic Republic uses dual-nationals as hostages to extract money and concessions from Western governments.
Source: Voice of America
