September 23, 2022
Anoosheh Ashoori, who was jailed for nearly five years in Iran on spying charges before being released along with Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, is set to run the London Marathon to raise money for two charities.
Ashoori, 68, resolved to one day tackle the marathon while serving a 10-year sentence in Evin prison.
He was arrested in August 2017 while visiting his elderly mother in Tehran and was later convicted of spying for Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, despite having lived in the UK for 20 years.
The retired civil engineer and his fellow British-Iranian dual national, Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who was also detained on espionage charges, were released and flown back to the UK in March.
Ashoori will run the marathon with his son Aryan, 33, on October 2 to raise money and awareness for Amnesty International and Hostage International. Both charities supported him and his family while he was in jail.
He started exercising regularly with other inmates, “running in circles” in a “very small area” at the prison gym or yard. At first, he became breathless in 10 minutes or less, but gradually his stamina improved and he was able to run for up to two hours. “I promised myself, whatever age I am, I am going to participate in the London Marathon.”
Ashoori said it made him realize that, “even if you are going through intense suffering, if you try to find or create a purpose for that suffering, it is not going to be as painful as it was before.”
He said he was also running to “let all the ones who are left behind know they are not forgotten”, adding: “I am thinking about them, doing this in solidarity with them.”