Lindsay and Craig Foreman, a British couple who were arrested while passing through Iran on a motorcycle trip around the world, were sentenced to 10 years in prison for espionage.
They were detained by the Iranian authorities in January 2025 and later charged with espionage.
The Foremans are being held separately in the notorious Tehran prison, which is used by the Iranian government to hold political prisoners, writes the BBC.
Foreign Affairs Minister Yvette Cooper called the sentence completely appalling and completely unjustified, while Lindsay’s son Joe Bennett said the family was concerned.
Bennett said Iranian authorities had never presented any evidence of espionage and called on the British government to “act decisively and use every available opportunity” to bring them home.
The Foremans previously appeared at a three-hour court hearing in Tehran in October and were not allowed to present a defense.
Bennett said the couple’s lawyers in Iran had made it clear there was no legal basis to prosecute them, but their requests for bail had been ignored.
Bennett said the plight of his mother and stepfather worried him, and he had repeatedly called on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to help them.
He said his family felt abandoned by the government and that letters he had sent to the prime minister and the foreign minister had gone unanswered.
Iran has arrested dozens of Iranians with dual citizenship or permanent residency abroad in recent years, mostly on espionage and national security charges. At least 15 of them had connections with Great Britain, it says Klix.ba.
(TYPE)
