A British couple detained in Iran has reached “breaking point,” their son has told the BBC. Lindsay and Craig Foreman began a hunger strike in May after their phone access was “cut off.” The couple was detained in January 2025 by Iranian authorities \u2013 a move widely seen as an attempt to gain leverage over the UK government.<\/p>\n
Lindsay’s son, Joe Bennett, expressed fears that they would continue to refuse food “indefinitely.” He stated, “My mum and Craig are now risking their lives… because they feel they have run out of other options. Hunger strikes are not symbolic gestures. They are acts of desperation. They have been pushed to breaking point. Their only agency is to take control of the one thing they can \u2013 their body.” Craig is believed to have entered his 20th day of refusing food on Thursday, while Lindsay was on her 11th day after previously pausing her strike.<\/p>\n
Bennett told the BBC that it remains unclear what the Iranian and British sides are negotiating to secure their release. “There may be a solution that they [the government is] aware of that they aren’t talking about,” he said, adding, “We can’t give them [Craig and Lindsay] any positive updates. That’s the hardest thing.” The release of British-Iranian nationals Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori in 2022, who were detained in Iran for years, followed the UK settling a \u00a3400 million tank debt with Iran’s government, although British officials never confirmed the link.<\/p>\n
Bennett, from Folkestone in Kent, says the couple feels “abandoned” by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). While acknowledging that diplomacy is often invisible and difficult, he has accused officials of not showing “proactive thinking” or trying “alternative approaches” to secure their release. “There does not seem to be any sign of progress, just inertia,” Bennett added.<\/p>\n
The FCDO stated that Britain’s Ambassador to Tehran, along with diplomats and officials in London, have provided consular assistance since the Foremans’ arrest last year. A spokesperson said ministers had met the family and outlined “how unjustified and appalling” Lindsay and Craig’s incarceration was, alongside the action the government was taking. “We will continue working to ensure that Craig and Lindsay are returned safely to the UK,” they added.<\/p>\n
Craig and Lindsay, currently held in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison, have reportedly been repeatedly misled and denied proper access to legal support and basic welfare items, according to their family. The couple, from East Sussex, was sentenced in February to 10 years in prison on espionage charges \u2013 an accusation the family denies.<\/p>\n
“I feel a weird type of grief,” Bennett told the BBC. “You’re grieving someone that you miss but that is still alive. We just want them home.”<\/p>\n
#BritishHostages #IranDetention #EvinPrison #HungerStrike #UKDiplomacy #HostageCrisis #ForeignAffairs #HumanRights #FreeTheForemans #EspionageCharges<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A British couple detained in Iran has reached “breaking point,” their son has told the BBC. Lindsay and Craig Foreman began a hunger strike in May after their phone access was “cut off.” The couple was detained in January 2025 by Iranian authorities \u2013 a move widely seen as an attempt to gain leverage over […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":29302,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-iran-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=29301"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29301\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/29302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}