British couple sentenced to 10 years in Iran for espionage, family says; UK condemns verdict
A British couple detained in Iran since January 2025 have been sentenced to 10 years in prison for espionage, their family said, drawing swift condemnation from the U.K. government and intensifying scrutiny of Tehran’s treatment of Western detainees.
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Lindsay and Craig Foreman, both in their 50s, were arrested while traveling through Iran on an around-the-world motorcycle journey, relatives said. They have consistently denied spying. The couple were detained in Kerman, central Iran, and are being held in Tehran’s Evin Prison — Lindsay in the women’s wing and Craig in the political wing — a facility long criticized by human rights groups for its conditions and treatment of prisoners.
“They have consistently denied the allegations. We have seen no evidence to support the charge of espionage,” their son, Joe Bennett, said in a statement. He described the family’s reaction to the verdict as “sorrow, frustration, anger, disbelief,” calling the news “overwhelming.”
U.K. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper called the sentences “completely appalling and totally unjustifiable,” pledging to “pursue this case relentlessly with the Iranian government until we see Craig and Lindsay Foreman safely returned to the U.K. and reunited with their family.” She said the couple’s welfare is the government’s priority and promised continued consular assistance.
Iran’s judiciary has insisted the Foremans were spies. Spokesman Asghar Jahangir alleged last year that the pair entered the country “posing as tourists” and gathered information before their arrest. The family says the Foremans were on a long-planned overland trip.
Before news of the sentencing became public, Lindsay described her detention as a “rollercoaster” in a BBC radio interview. “We have so few tools at our disposal. We have no voice … all we can do is write letters and go on hunger strike,” she said, adding that she accepted responsibility for entering Iran against U.K. travel advice.
Bennett, 31, quit his sales job last year to campaign full-time for his parents’ release. He welcomed Cooper’s stronger language, saying it was the first time in 14 months he had heard those words publicly about the case. “So that has to give us some hope,” he said, adding that ministers previously cited limits on what they could do before sentencing. “The fight is only just begun now because they’ve been sentenced.”
The Foremans’ case adds to a long list of Westerners detained by Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Critics accuse Tehran of “hostage diplomacy” — detaining foreigners on security charges to extract concessions. British-Iranian charity worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was freed in 2022 after six years in detention, following the settlement of a decades-old U.K. debt to Iran. Last year, Iranian authorities also released two French nationals, Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris, after more than three years in custody.
The verdict comes amid renewed tensions over Iran’s nuclear program and a U.S. military buildup in the region. U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday urged Tehran to strike a “meaningful” deal, warning that Washington “may have to take it a step further” without an agreement. “You’re going to be finding out over the next probably ten days,” he said at the inaugural meeting of the “Board of Peace,” his initiative focused on regional stability.
As families of detainees trade advice and support — including from Zaghari-Ratcliffe and her husband, Richard — Bennett said he remains uncertain about timelines. “When will they be released? I don’t know,” he said, his voice breaking as he spoke about not knowing when he can next hug his mother. “In all honesty, for the last 14 months, it feels like we’ve been fighting a war on a couple of fronts, not only with the Iranians, but with our government to take action.”
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
