Retired Lewisham civil engineer returns to UK after five years in jail in Iran

The family of a retired civil engineer who is returning to the UK after being freed from Iran have said they are “delighted” by his release.

Anoosheh Ashoori, 67, from Lewisham, had been detained in Evin prison for almost five years.

The British citizen and fellow British-Iranian national Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe were released and flew into RAF Brize Norton at 1am today, Thursday.

According to Amnesty International UK, Mr Ashoori, who had lived in the UK for more than 20 years, was “subjected to torture, repeatedly interrogated without a lawyer present and forced to sign ‘confessions’ while sleep deprived”.

His daughter, Elika Ashoori, in a video posted on Twitter, said: “My family and I are delighted to confirm he has been released and will be returning. This day has been a long time coming.

“1,672 days ago our family’s foundations were rocked when our father and husband was unjustly detained and taken away from us.

“Now, we can look forward to rebuilding those same foundations with our cornerstone back in place.

“We have bought him his favourite beer – it will be his first in five years so he’ll enjoy that very much. We are beyond happy and over the moon.

“We will make sure he gets the rest he needs and then take it one day at a time.”

She thanked the huge number of friends and wellwishers who had called.

“We thank you for your kind words and also for your patience while we celebrate this occasion privately as a family,” she added.

In January 2020, Mr Ashoori’s wife Sherry Izadi said she feared he had no “hope in hell” of being released.

She said this week had been an “emotional rollercoaster” and that it was not until her family was told his plane had left Iran that “we allowed ourselves to feel joy for the very first time”.

She told BBC News: “To say it has been traumatic would be an understatement. It takes its toll on you financially, mentally and physically – in every way. You are tirelessly campaigning – it is almost a full-time job. But you also have to support someone thousands of miles away.

“But there are everyday bills and the constant battle to stay on top of things, not to lose hope, continue campaigning and continue the fight.

“Hopefully, we will now put this behind us and get back to normal life before this happened. We will help him as best we can.”

Mr Ashoori was arrested in August 2017 while visiting his elderly mother in Tehran, and was detained in Evin prison.

He was later convicted of spying for Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency and sentenced to prison for 10 years.

His and Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s release followed months of intensive diplomatic negotiations between London and Tehran and the repaying of a debt owed by the UK to Iran.

Mr Ashoori’s MP, Labour’s Janet Daby, said it was a “day of celebration” for his family.

The MP for Lewisham East told the Commons: “As Anoosheh’s member of Parliament I am, of course, thrilled beyond belief for his release and for Nazanin. I’m incredibly happy for Anoosheh’s wife Sherry, for his children, as well as for their families and friends.”

Ms Daby thanked Foreign Secretary Liz Truss for helping secure her constituent’s release but said his detention could have been avoided.

Asked why it had taken so long, Ms Truss said: “What I will say about the process of securing the release of our detainees is the foreign secretaries, the prime minister, Foreign Office officials, have worked tirelessly on this.”