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Anoosheh Ashoori Accuses Johnson of 'Opportunism' after Release from Iran Prison

Sherry Izadi, Elika Ashoori and Aryan Ashoori, the family of Anoosheh Ashoori stage an 'empty chair' protest opposite Downing Street, on the 4th anniversary of his imprisonment, in London, Britain, August 13, 2021. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls
Sherry Izadi, Elika Ashoori and Aryan Ashoori, the family of Anoosheh Ashoori stage an 'empty chair' protest opposite Downing Street, on the 4th anniversary of his imprisonment, in London, Britain, August 13, 2021. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls
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Anoosheh Ashoori Accuses Johnson of 'Opportunism' after Release from Iran Prison

Sherry Izadi, Elika Ashoori and Aryan Ashoori, the family of Anoosheh Ashoori stage an 'empty chair' protest opposite Downing Street, on the 4th anniversary of his imprisonment, in London, Britain, August 13, 2021. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls
Sherry Izadi, Elika Ashoori and Aryan Ashoori, the family of Anoosheh Ashoori stage an 'empty chair' protest opposite Downing Street, on the 4th anniversary of his imprisonment, in London, Britain, August 13, 2021. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls

Anoosheh Ashoori, a former detainee in Iran, has accused Boris Johnson of ‘opportunism’, claiming the prime minister only reached out to him after his release from detention.

The 67-year-old British-Iranian was held in Tehran’s Evin prison for five years after a visit to Iran in August 2017 to see his elderly mother.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a dual British-Iranian citizen who went to Tehran in 2016 to visit her parents when her daughter was a toddler, was released last week along with Ashoori, who is a retired civil engineer.

Iran, which doesn’t recognize dual citizenship, has charged the detainees with crimes such as espionage and sentenced them to long prison terms under harsh conditions.

Speaking exclusively on Sky News program Beth Rigby Interviews, Ashoori said he felt let down by Britain's leader but praised the "fantastic job" civil servants have done behind-the-scenes.

Johnson did not respond to the family's requests for assistance, nor did he reply to a direct plea from Ashoori.

The detained Briton managed to record an audio message while inside the prison asking for Johnson's help. It was published by Sky News in 2020.

The retired engineer said: "I risked my safety but I managed to convey that message to him.

"Unfortunately he did not expend even five minutes to give a telephone call to my family."

However, on Monday, Ashoori received an invitation to meet with the prime minister.

He told Sky News: "Now he's eager to see us. How would you interpret that?

"I think that there's a bit of opportunism involved in it."

Asked if he would meet with the prime minister, Ashoori said: "I'm not sure."

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World

Still a Long Way to Go in Talks on Ukraine, Russia's Lavrov Says

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attends a meeting with Tanzanian Minister of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation Mahmoud Thabit Kombo (not pictured), in Moscow, Russia, 09 February 2026. EPA/RAMIL SITDIKOV / POOL
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attends a meeting with Tanzanian Minister of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation Mahmoud Thabit Kombo (not pictured), in Moscow, Russia, 09 February 2026. EPA/RAMIL SITDIKOV / POOL
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Still a Long Way to Go in Talks on Ukraine, Russia's Lavrov Says

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attends a meeting with Tanzanian Minister of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation Mahmoud Thabit Kombo (not pictured), in Moscow, Russia, 09 February 2026. EPA/RAMIL SITDIKOV / POOL
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attends a meeting with Tanzanian Minister of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation Mahmoud Thabit Kombo (not pictured), in Moscow, Russia, 09 February 2026. EPA/RAMIL SITDIKOV / POOL

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that there was no reason to be enthusiastic about US President Donald Trump's pressure on Europe and Ukraine as there was still a long way to go in talks on peace in Ukraine, RIA reported on Tuesday.

Here are ‌some details:

The ‌United States has ‌brokered ⁠talks between Russia and Ukraine ‌on various different drafts of a plan for ending the war in Ukraine, but no deal has yet been reached despite Trump's repeated promises to clinch one.

* "There is still a long way to go," Lavrov ⁠was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies.

* Lavrov said that ‌Trump had put Ukraine ‍and Europe in their places ‍but that such a move was ‍no reason to embrace an "enthusiastic perception" of the situation.

* Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said that any deal would have to exclude NATO membership for Ukraine and rule out the deployment of foreign troops in Ukraine, Izvestia ⁠reported.

* At stake is how to end the deadliest war in Europe since World War Two, the future of Ukraine, the extent to which European powers are sidelined and whether or not a peace deal brokered by the United States will endure.

* Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 after eight years of fighting in eastern Ukraine, triggering the biggest confrontation between ‌Moscow and the West since the depths of the Cold War.

 

World

Iran Security Chief Visits Oman after Talks with US

FILE PHOTO: Iran's Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Larijani speaks after meeting with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, in Beirut, Lebanon August 13, 2025. REUTERS/Aziz Taher/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Iran's Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Larijani speaks after meeting with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, in Beirut, Lebanon August 13, 2025. REUTERS/Aziz Taher/File Photo
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Iran Security Chief Visits Oman after Talks with US

FILE PHOTO: Iran's Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Larijani speaks after meeting with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, in Beirut, Lebanon August 13, 2025. REUTERS/Aziz Taher/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Iran's Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Larijani speaks after meeting with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, in Beirut, Lebanon August 13, 2025. REUTERS/Aziz Taher/File Photo

The secretary of Iran's top security body arrived in Oman on Tuesday, days after a new round of nuclear talks was held in Muscat between officials from Washington and Tehran.

Ali Larijani, who heads the Supreme National Security Council, will hold talks with Haitham bin Tariq, the Sultan of Oman, and Foreign Minister Badr bin Hamad al-Busaidi, Iran's state news agency IRNA reported.

They will discuss the latest regional and international developments as well as economic cooperation between Iran and Oman, the news agency said.

The visit comes after Iran and the United States resumed dialogue in Oman on Friday for the first time since the 12-day Iran-Israel war last June, which was briefly joined by the US military.

World

US Justice Department Opens Unredacted Epstein Files to Lawmakers

This combination of three undated pictures provided by the US Department of Justice on January 30, 2026 as part of the Jeffrey Epstein files show an Austrian passport Jeffrey Epstein used under the assumed name of Marius Robert Fortelni (AFP) 
This combination of three undated pictures provided by the US Department of Justice on January 30, 2026 as part of the Jeffrey Epstein files show an Austrian passport Jeffrey Epstein used under the assumed name of Marius Robert Fortelni (AFP) 
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US Justice Department Opens Unredacted Epstein Files to Lawmakers

This combination of three undated pictures provided by the US Department of Justice on January 30, 2026 as part of the Jeffrey Epstein files show an Austrian passport Jeffrey Epstein used under the assumed name of Marius Robert Fortelni (AFP) 
This combination of three undated pictures provided by the US Department of Justice on January 30, 2026 as part of the Jeffrey Epstein files show an Austrian passport Jeffrey Epstein used under the assumed name of Marius Robert Fortelni (AFP) 

The US Justice Department opened the unredacted Jeffrey Epstein files to review by members of Congress on Feb 9 as several lawmakers expressed concern that some names have been removed from the publicly released records, according to AFP.

The Epstein Files Transparency Act (EFTA), passed overwhelmingly by Congress in November, compelled the Justice Department to release all of the documents in its possession related to the convicted sex offender.

It required the redaction of the names or any other personally identifiable information about Epstein’s victims, who numbered more than 1,000 according to the FBI.

But it said no records could be “withheld, delayed, or redacted on the basis of embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity, including to any government official, public figure, or foreign dignitary.”

Representative Ro Khanna, a Democrat from California, is among the members of the House of Representatives questioning some of the redactions in the more than three million documents released by the Justice Department.

Khanna posted examples on his Facebook page. The name of the sender of a 17 January 2013 email to Epstein is blacked out in the released files.

“New Brazilian just arrived, sexy and cute. She is 9 years old,” the message said.

The name of the sender of a 11 March 2014 email to Epstein is also redacted. “Thank you for a fun night,” the message said. “Your littlest girl was a little naughty.”

Khanna said the names of the senders of the emails need to be revealed.

“Concealing the reputations of these powerful men is a blatant violation of the Epstein Transparency Act,” he said.

Epstein, who had ties to business executives, politicians, celebrities and academics, was found dead in his New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking minor girls.

Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's former girlfriend, is the only person convicted of a crime in connection with Epstein. She was convicted in 2021 of sex trafficking underage girls to the financier and is serving a 20-year prison sentence.

Republican committee chairman James Comer said Maxwell had invoked her right to not incriminate herself, guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment of the US Constitution.

“As expected, Ghislaine Maxwell took the fifth and refused to answer any questions,” Comer told reporters. “This is obviously very disappointing.”

“We had many questions to ask about the crimes she and Epstein committed as well as questions about potential co-conspirators,” he said.

Maxwell's lawyers told the House panel that the former British socialite was prepared to testify only if she was first granted clemency by President Donald Trump, Comer said.

The lawyers had pushed for Congress to grant her legal immunity in order to testify, but lawmakers refused.

Trump fought for months to prevent release of the vast trove of documents about Epstein – a longtime former friend – but a rebellion among Republicans forced him to sign off on the law mandating release of all the records.