Family members of British couple Lindsay and Craig Foreman, 53, who were arrested and jailed in 2025 while traveling through Iran on spying charges, said they were extremely concerned after the US and Israel attacked the country.
The British couple were on a motorcycle trip around the world when they were arrested in Iran. Last month, they were sentenced to 10 years in prison on espionage charges, which they denied. The couple is being held in Evin Prison in Tehran, which has been under widespread 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 senior Iranian security officials.
Joe Bennett, Lindsay’s son, has been campaigning for the couple’s release for more than a year. Tehran insisted they were spies, with Iranian judiciary spokesman Asghar Jahangir claiming last year that the monitors had entered Iran “pretending to be tourists” and collected information before arresting them.Amid the new escalation in the Middle East, Joe said he spoke to his parents Sunday morning but was very concerned about their safety.
“We were very relieved when we heard from our parents on Sunday morning, but we remain very concerned about their safety,” Joe said. “Our thoughts are with the people of Iran and all others in the region affected by the bombings this weekend.” British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper had previously described the ruling against the couple as “completely horrific and completely unjustified,” and stressed that the government would relentlessly pursue this case with the Iranian government until Craig and Lindsay Foreman were returned safely.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 quite know it, but I think if you look at history, 10 years is just a number, and we’re working to make it as short a period of time as possible. I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s completely rational to discuss with your innocent mother and stepfather that they’re facing 10 years in an Iranian prison. I think if you look at the rules of the game, which there aren’t a lot of, but if you look at it and how you end up adjudicating, we’ve seen some cases that get resolved within weeks, we’ve seen some cases that go on,” Joe said earlier. Unfortunately, for years.”
