An engineer jailed in Iran has accused the British government of ignoring his repeated pleas for help during a get-well message to UK premier Boris Johnson from a prison phone.
Anoosheh Ashoori, 66, a British-Iranian dual national, called his family from the corridor outside his cell at Evin jail, Tehran, to accuse British officials of ignoring requests for help before the government was engulfed by the coronavirus crisis.
Mr Ashoori was arrested in 2017 and jailed for 12 years after the Iranian authorities accused him of spying for Mossad. He denies the charges against him and says that he has been held as a hostage by the Iranian regime as a pawn in a broader geopolitical game.
His family posted his latest message online this week in which he says the government failed to answer questions posed by his MP last month or respond to an earlier recorded voice message sent to the foreign office.
In that message, he warned that inmates were being highly exposed to contracting coronavirus within the Iranian prison system and said he would hold Mr Johnson personally responsible for inaction.
“Those days, Britain was not yet confronted by this virus,” said Mr Ashoori in the latest message posted online by his family.
“The British Government did not pay much attention to my pleading for help as it did not realise the seriousness of the threat and did not take the right precautionary measures until the virus came knocking at the doors of the British house.”
The Iranian government has freed about 85,000 inmates from its jails to try to limit the spread of coronavirus but Mr Ashoori has not been given temporary release unlike British-Iranian charity worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.
He was instead moved to a new cell where he has been housed with a murderer, drug dealer and car thief, according to his family, and helped to nurse a fellow inmate who was showing symptoms of Covid-19.
In his audio message, Mr Ashoori wished the prime minister “a quick and complete recovery and hope that you will regain your strength and return to work as soon as possible”.
He added that Mr Johnson – who was being treated in the intensive care unit of a central London hospital – had the privilege of being treated by one of the world’s best health services.
Detainees in Iran were by contrast “trapped in the Islamic Republic’s prisons where medical checks are almost non-existent despite all the fake news and propaganda that is being broadcast by its media,” he said during the two-minute message. “We are the sitting ducks, helplessly awaiting a bleak future that you may confirm if you remain indifferent in the future.”
Iran on Wednesday reported 1,997 new cases, taking the total to nearly 65,000. The confirmed death toll in Iran is 3,993, the fifth highest of any nation.
Nigel Adams, a Foreign Office minister, told Mr Ashoori’s MP on March 2 the UK was talking with Iran and that “under any international rules system, prisoners should be afforded the best possible treatment”. He said that officials could not get into the prisons to assess conditions.
Why are asylum seekers being housed in hotels?
The number of asylum applications in the UK has reached a new record high, driven by those illegally entering the country in small boats crossing the English Channel.
A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation while their claim is assessed.
The Home Office provides the accommodation, meaning asylum seekers cannot choose where they live.
When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to hotels or large sites like former military bases.
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
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The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The specS: 2018 Toyota Camry
Price: base / as tested: Dh91,000 / Dh114,000
Engine: 3.5-litre V6
Gearbox: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 298hp @ 6,600rpm
Torque: 356Nm @ 4,700rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 7.0L / 100km
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl
Power: 153hp at 6,000rpm
Torque: 200Nm at 4,000rpm
Transmission: 6-speed auto
Price: Dh99,000
On sale: now
The specs: 2019 Audi A7 Sportback
Price, base: Dh315,000
Engine: 3.0-litre V6
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 335hp @ 5,000rpm
Torque: 500Nm @ 1,370rpm
Fuel economy 5.9L / 100km
Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
If you go
The flights
Emirates and Etihad fly direct to Nairobi, with fares starting from Dh1,695. The resort can be reached from Nairobi via a 35-minute flight from Wilson Airport or Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, or by road, which takes at least three hours.
The rooms
Rooms at Fairmont Mount Kenya range from Dh1,870 per night for a deluxe room to Dh11,000 per night for the William Holden Cottage.
