The couple, in their 50s, were on a motorcycle tour around the world when they were arrested in January 2025. Over the past 13 months, they have been held in three separate jails, most recently in Evin Prison, Tehran, notorious for harsh conditions and human rights abuses.
The Foremans’ son, Joe Bennett, said the sentence followed a three-hour hearing at the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran last October, during which his parents were not permitted to present a defence. He called on the British government to secure their release, adding:
“We are deeply concerned about their welfare and about the lack of transparency in the judicial process.”
The couple and their family deny the allegations, stating that no evidence has been provided to support the charges.
The UK Foreign Secretary, Yvette Cooper, condemned the sentence as “totally unjustifiable” and confirmed that the government would press Iran for the couple’s release, saying:
“We will pursue this case relentlessly with the Iranian government until we see Craig and Lindsay Foreman safely returned to the UK and reunited with their family.”
The sentencing was handed down by Judge Abolghasem Salavati, who has been sanctioned by the UK, US, and EU for human rights abuses and presiding over “show trials.”
Conditions at Evin Prison have worsened following mass arrests of pro-democracy demonstrators, with overcrowding and unsanitary conditions reported. The Foremans, who have occasionally spoken to their son by phone after going on hunger strike, described sharing a cell with rats and sleeping on concrete or metal blocks.
Bennett, who has also been in contact with French tourists Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris, freed by Iran after three years of detention, urged the UK government to act decisively:
“We now hope that the UK government will use every available avenue to secure my parents’ release.”
The Foremans had intended to spend five days in Iran, traveling through Tabriz, Tehran, and Isfahan, before continuing east. Their social media posts highlighted their interactions with locals, but they never reached their final destination of Kerman before being arrested on February 13, 2025.
