This time last year 68-year-old British-Iranian, Anoosheh Ashoori, was dreaming of being able to run freely in London parks while in his cell at the notorious Evin prison in Iran. On 17 August 2017, Ashoori was arrested by Iranian authorities on spying charges, which he has always denied.
He was visiting his elderly mother in Tehran when a white car pulled up and 4 men got out, asked if he was Anoosheh Ashoori and continued to push him into the car, blindfolded him and took him away.
Ashoori went on hunger strike and lost 17kg in 17 days when he was in the interrogation centre and often speaks about the three suicide attempts he made while he was in Evin prison. It was when he began to run, his mindset shifted as he fought to stay alive, in every aspect of the word. He decided to harness his outlet for running and stimulate his body daily to forget about his pain.
Ashoori stood at the start line holding a sign saying ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ which has become the slogan across Iran as protests erupted after the death of 22-year-old Kurdish woman Zhina (Mahsa) Amini. He wore a prison suit and had handcuffs on his wrist. He was saying that he has been eating a lot of pasta and even had some for breakfast that day, before another person intervened to congratulate him on this achievement.
Watching Anoosheh Ashoori walk towards the start line at the London Marathon was surreal, after everything he had been through, he was about to embark on his dream and run for the freedom of Iran.
