British couple sentenced to 10 years in Iran on espionage charges speak from Evin prison

Lindsay Foreman, 53, and Craig Foreman, 52, from East Sussex, have spoken publicly for the first time since being sentenced to 10 years in Iran's Evin prison on espionage charges they deny, describing deteriorating conditions and pleading for government action.

The couple were arrested in January 2025 on suspicion of espionage while on a round-the-world motorcycle trip. They were sentenced to 10 years in prison in February. They are being held in separate cells within Evin prison in Tehran.

Lindsay Foreman spent an initial 57 days in solitary confinement in the city of Kerman. Craig Foreman was interrogated while blindfolded during his time in solitary confinement, something he described as "horrific". They were moved to Tehran last July and told they were being freed, only to be taken to Evin prison.

"I'm dealing with the realisation that we're likely to be here for a long time," Lindsay Foreman said in a telephone interview from Evin prison. "I just feel that we're wasting our lives in here and rotting away," Craig Foreman said. "We are innocent people. We have committed no offence."

Craig Foreman said four of his cellmates have been taken away for execution. "I know they've been executed because they publicise it on TV the next day," he said. One of Lindsay Foreman's cellmates was sentenced to death for her role in nationwide protests in January, which the regime crushed with lethal force, killing thousands.

The couple crossed from Armenia into Iran intending to stay only a few days. Lindsay Foreman was asking people along the route what constitutes a "good life" and was due to present her findings at a conference in Brisbane. The couple had been aware of Foreign Office advice that British nationals should not travel to Iran.

"Craig and I had assessed the risk and did not think that innocent tourists would end up in prison for this long with no evidence," Lindsay Foreman said. "I take responsibility for the choice I made to come here, and I have to live with the consequences."

The British embassy closed temporarily when the war began and is yet to reopen. Consular visits are no longer taking place. The Foreign Office has described their incarceration as "appalling" and "unjustifiable".

Craig Foreman made a direct plea to the government: "Just take action. Speak out. Get us out. It seems to me we're sitting here like sitting ducks."

The couple's son, Joe Bennett, now gets regular phone calls from his mother and step-father, patched through from payphones in Evin prison via the Foreign Office. Conversations are monitored and lines drop out regularly.

Lindsay Foreman said she is keeping sane by reading, doing laps of the prison yard and, when she can, practising yoga. She is currently reading The Road Less Travelled by Scott Peck. She worries she will soon run out of books to borrow from the prison library.

Craig Foreman is being held with other foreigners – an Ecuadorian, a German and a Romanian man – and feels a sense of camaraderie. Lindsay Foreman is more isolated, with no English-speakers in her cell, where she sleeps on a metal bunk.

"It's not very hygienic. There's no health care, no dental care," Craig Foreman said. "And there are lots of fights between inmates. You have to try and stay clear because there are homemade weapons and things."

Lindsay Foreman broke down in tears during the interview, saying: "There are people who have been here for years, and it's just so unfair." Craig Foreman comforted her, saying: "We can do this. We will do this. We'll get through it together and, sometime, I hope soon, we will be on the other side of these walls. So stay strong, my love."

"When I look at my position, I think 'well, thank God I didn't grow up here'," Lindsay Foreman said. "There will be an end for us at some point. But for some of these people, there won't be an end."