Former Iran captive Anoosheh Ashoori runs London Marathon in Evin prison uniform

A British-Iranian national held in a notorious Tehran prison for five years ran the London Marathon on Sunday in a uniform he smuggled out of the facility when he was released, according to his daughter.

Anoosheh Ashoori, who was released from Evin prison in March of this year, took on the 26.2-mile race with his son Aryan and raised more than £17,000 for Amnesty International UK and Hostage International, his daughter Elika Ashoori said.

Ashoori, 68, has previously said he would run for the two charities because of their help in having him freed.

At the start line, Ashoori held up a sign reading 'Women, Life, Freedom', a slogan taken on by Iranians protesting after the death of Mahsa Amini.

Amini, detained by Iran's morality police for wearing her hijab 'improperly', was allegedly fatally beaten while in police custody.

The anti-government protests that have followed have been met with a fierce crackdown by Iranian security forces that has killed at least 52 people, according to Amnesty International.

Ashoori was detained in Iran in 2017, on spying charges that he repeatedly denied. He was sentenced in September 2018 to a total of twelve years in jail and held at the notorious Evin prison.

The dual national was released early, at the same time as Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, after the UK agreed to pay a long-standing $400 million debt it owed Tehran.

He previously told The New Arab of his wish to run the iconic race, and said that he had run around a small prison yard with other inmates during his detention.