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Ashoori Family Thank Star Trek's Patrick Stewart for Stellar Support

March 24, 2022
IranWire
2 min read
Ashoori Family Thank Star Trek's Patrick Stewart for Stellar Support

A week ago today, two British-Iranian citizens were reunited in the small hours with their families after many painful, avoidable years apart as hostages of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

One of them was Anoosheh Ashoori, a retired civil engineer. His family members spoke this week of both their relief and unbridled joy at having him home, and of the initial difficulty they had faced in highlighting his case in the media and to the wider world.

Among those to come to the rescue during the Ashoori family’s long fight for justice was none other than Patrick Stewart, veteran actor and star of the iconic, long-running science fiction TV series Star Trek.

It turns out Anoosheh is a fan. The family revealed this week that while in Evin Prison, the now 67-year-old made a stunning piece of marquetry work depicting the actor in his famous role from the 1980s onward, starship admiral Jean-Luc Picard.

On Tuesday, March 22, daughter Elika Ashoori posted a picture on Twitter of Anoosheh and his wife Sherry Izadi on the sofa at home watching Star Trek: Picard. Picard first aired in January 2020 when Anoosheh was in his third year of captivity. It saw Stewart reprise the titular role for the first time since 2002. 

Seeing both of her parents watch TV together, Elika Ashoori wrote, was “such an ordinary thing, but so extraordinary at the same time.”

In October 2021, Stewart had become aware of Anoosheh’s plight and shared a stark message raising awareness of the case with 3.6m followers on Twitter. “Anoosheh Ashoori, a British engineer, father, and husband, has been wrongly imprisoned in Iran for over 4 years,” he wrote.

In a follow-up message on Wednesday, the actor had a very different memo to broadcast: “You may have seen the news that Anoosheh Ashoori has been released after years of being unjustly detained in Iran. Sending my support to Anoosheh and his family, and gratitude to @AmnestyUK for their work to advocate for him and human rights around the world.”.

In response, Elika Ashoori, an actress herself, wrote: “You have made a world of difference to the lives of this Trekkie family. A true captain.”

Both of the missives in cyberspace caught the attention of a multitude of fans and followers, with some vowing to “boost the signal” last year and others weighing in on Wednesday to offer their congratulations to the family.

Last October, in a very gentle nod to the TV series’ primary setting, the USS Voyager, Amnesty’s UK Twitter account had responded: “We hope that one day, Anoosheh will be able to make his voyage home.”

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