Anoosheh Ashoori: Former Iranian prisoner to run London Marathon

In August 2017, Anoosheh Ashoori was visiting his elderly mother in Iran when he was arrested and imprisoned having been accused of spying for Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency – despite living in the UK for 20 years.

He spent nearly five years in an Iranian jail but was finally released in March 2022 at the same time as another holder of dual nationality, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.

While in prison, Mr Ashoori was inspired to take up running after his friend gave him a copy of the Haruki Murakami book, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running.

He will be running in the London Marathon later this month.