Sentencing of British couple in Iran makes it a ‘political problem’, family says
Lindsay and Craig Foreman, both 53, have been jailed for 10 years following their arrest in January 2025.
The sentencing of a British couple who have been detained in Iran for more than a year has made their circumstances a “political problem” which “forces the Government’s hand” to act more strongly, their family said.
Lindsay and Craig Foreman, both 53, have been jailed for 10 years following their arrest in January 2025, which came while travelling through the country on an around-the-world motorcycle journey, and their detention on charges of espionage.
The couple, from East Sussex, who are being held in Tehran’s Evin prison, deny the allegations.
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper labelled the sentence “completely appalling and totally unjustifiable”, and vowed the Government will “pursue this case relentlessly with the Iranian government until we see Craig and Lindsay Foreman safely returned”.
Her Tory counterpart, Dame Priti Patel, condemned the jail term as “disgraceful”, and called on Sir Keir Starmer to “use all available leverage” to secure their release.
Joe Bennett, Ms Foreman’s son, said he is hopeful that the Government will now step up.
The 31-year-old, living in Kent, told the Press Association: “I felt it with the way that Yvette Cooper said her statement, I felt it in the tone shift from the language of the Foreign Office… it felt like okay, these guys have now let it go up until the point where maybe they are about to stand up for injustice because it’s confirmed injustice.
“Being held for 14 months while this is going on is injustice in itself but from a political point of view, which I suppose this has to now shift into because it is no longer a case that’s going through, this is a political problem. That’s where the shift can really be felt.”
He added: “Going into this space forces the Government’s hand to act in a different way because it takes it into this political sphere.”
“I think that has been one of the problems,” he continued, “that there hasn’t been that sign of support publicly.
“Their names haven’t been mentioned by the Government, except for the concern for their welfare, but solidarity in these moments are key.
“If you feel that your government is fighting for you, it gives you a hell of a lot more energy.
“I want to give (the Government) the space and I want to give them the support to be able to carry out these actions.”
But he added: “Don’t get me wrong, it won’t last long if they don’t follow through on what they promise.”
Mr Bennett, who said he believes his mother and stepfather have been “political pawns from the beginning”, is expecting to have a meeting with Ms Cooper soon.
He called their sentencing “devastating news” but also said it provides some clarity.
“We’ve been living in a void, especially since their last court appearance in October, it has just been complete silence on that front,” he told PA.
“(The sentencing) in a weird way, gives you a bit of clarity.
“We’ve got to see it, hopefully, as an upward trend. This might be rock bottom but we can work from here, and I think that’s what we’ve got to do as a family, we’ve got to continue to stay strong for them, they’ve got to continue to stay strong for one another.”
He has had calls with them “pretty much daily” since November, but said their conversations sometimes haunt him at night.
“Some of the calls are some of the hardest calls I’ve ever experienced because you hear your mum and Craig in the most vulnerable states that they could be in,” he said.
“My mum, having to listen to her beg is very, very hard, beg for help, is something that haunts me at night because in those moments she feels so helpless.
“It’s not (that) she wants to put that pressure on me, but she literally has no other choice and that’s one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to deal with.”
He said he has not received a call from them on Thursday.
“I don’t know if that’s by design or maybe they’ve been called to court,” Mr Bennett told PA.
“But then when the calls don’t come, it’s panic, it really is, because you just don’t know what they’re facing.”
He said his mother lives in “constant fear” that the authorities will come for her.
The family heard about the sentence on Tuesday and had it confirmed on Wednesday.
The detained couple recently sent a letter to the Iranian authorities complaining about their treatment.
Speaking to the BBC by telephone from within Evin prison on Wednesday, before news of the sentencing had been released, Ms Foreman said: “We have so few tools at our disposal, we have no voice, all we can do is write letters and go on hunger strike.
“We need to exercise our right to be heard both by their legal system to say what you’re doing is unfair and unjust, and we are prepared to suffer ourselves to make that understood.”
