Family members of the British couple, 53-year-old Lindsay and Craig Foreman who were arrested and jailed in 2025 while they were traveling through Iran on charges of espionage, said they were extremely worried after the US and Israel attacked the country. The British couple were on their motorcycle trip around the world when they were arrested in Iran. Last month, they were jailed for 10 years on espionage charges that they denied. The couple are being held in Evin prison in Tehran, which has been under massive attack since Saturday. The city is also where Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed, along with four members of his family and seven other top Iranian security officials.
Lindsay’s son Joe Bennett has been campaigning for the couple’s release for over a year.
Tehran insisted that they were spies, with Iran’s judiciary spokesman Asghar Jahangir last year alleging that the Foremans entered Iran “posing as tourists” and gathered information before their arrest.
Amid the fresh escalation in the Middle East, Joe said he spoke to his parents Sunday morning but was incredibly worried about their safety.
“We were extremely relieved to hear from our parents on Sunday morning, but remain incredibly worried about their safety. Our hearts go out to the people of Iran and all others in the region who were impacted by the bombings this weekend,” Joe said.
UK foreign secretary Yvette Cooper previously called the couple’s sentence “completely appalling and totally unjustifiable”, and assured that the government would pursue this case relentlessly with the Iranian government until Craig and Lindsay Foreman are safely returned.
The couple’s sentence was confirmed to their families last month. The family sent a letter to the Iranian authorities complaining about their treatment.
“You don’t fully ever know but I think if you look at history the 10 years is just a number, and that we work towards it being as short a time as possible. I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s an absolutely mental thing to be discussing with your innocent mother and stepfather that they are facing 10 years in an Iranian prison. I think if you look at the playbook, which there isn’t much of one, but if you look at it and how it plays out from sentencing, we have seen some cases that are resolved within a matter of weeks, we’ve seen some cases that unfortunately drag out for years,” Joe said earlier.
