The son of a British couple locked up in Iran has spoken of his terror after they were suddenly hauled before a court “out of the blue” this week
Lindsay and Craig Foreman, both 52, from East Sussex, were on a dream motorcycle world tour when they were arrested earlier this year on trumped-up espionage charges in Iran.
Lindsay is being held in the notorious Qarchak women’s prison, which Iran Human Rights says “disregards the most basic principles of human dignity”. Craig is in Evin jail, where he has not been seen in more than three months.
Today, Lindsay’s son Joe Bennett, 31, told the Mirror he was left “anxious and shaken” when he learned his mum and stepdad had been taken to a court hearing on Wednesday with no notice, and the family still has no idea what happened inside the courtroom.
READ MORE: ‘My wife was in hellhole jail – only one move can free Brit couple in holiday nightmare’READ MORE: ‘Brit parents jailed in Iran fell into a common trap, there’s only one way out’
Joe said: “My first reaction was fear. It was unannounced, completely out of the blue, and we still don’t know what happened. Right now, as a family, we’re anxious and shaken. We’re holding onto each other, but it’s very hard not to think the worst.”
Joe said the British government also seems to be in the dark. “What makes it worse is that even the Foreign Office didn’t know this was happening. That leaves us in the dark, worried sick, because if we don’t know what’s going on, then there’s no way to prepare or even understand what’s coming next.”
He added: “There hasn’t really been any advice from the Foreign Office.
“It all feels very reactive, like they’re finding out after the fact just as we are. That’s terrifying, because we’re left without clarity. We don’t know if Mum or Craig have been charged, if this was just a hearing, or what the future holds. We’re desperate for answers, but we’re not getting them.”
The family – Lindsay’s other son Toby, and Craig’s children, son Kieran and daughter Chelsea, had gone seven months without hearing from the couple until a brief call earlier this month gave them proof they were still alive.
Joe said step-dad Craig, a carpenter, is still in the same clothes he was arrested in and without funds to buy food or clean water.
He said: “We are deeply concerned for him. He told us that the welfare pack we sent hasn’t reached him.
“He’s still wearing the same clothes from when he was first detained, completely unsuitable for the extreme heat. He hasn’t been seen in more than three months.
“He still doesn’t have the money on his card, which means he can’t buy food or water.
“Every single day, we’re worrying about his survival, whether he has enough to eat, whether he can stay safe in those conditions. It’s unbearable to imagine, and the fact that we don’t know makes it even harder.”
Joe added: “My whole world has stopped. Everything I do, every waking thought, is about my Mum and Craig. It feels like life has narrowed down to just this fight for their survival and their freedom. The rest of the world carries on, but for us, time is frozen. It’s the only thing we can focus on right now.”
The case has chilling echoes of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who spent six years as a hostage in Iran.
Her husband Richard Ratcliffe told the Mirror the timing of the court hearing was “a deliberate signal” linked to fresh Western sanctions on Tehran.
Richard said: “I told their campaign I thought the timing of their court case was a warning from Iran in relation to the snap back decision that was finally taken yesterday.
“The decision to schedule the court appearance and prevent the Ambassador’s visit on the day before the E3 decision was a deliberate signal of what is to come.
“I fear lots of Western hostages will now be chess pieces in response to the nuclear negotiations and escalations, and there will be more court appearances and long sentences.
“It feels like the government wants to downplay this side effect, and that the hostages will be collateral damage while it looks tough on an international stage. And that is why it refuses to acknowledge Craig and Lindsay are hostages or indeed refuses to recognise any violation of their rights.
“But I was talking to Nazanin yesterday – I would not want to be in the Foreman household at present. They are in a very vulnerable place. It is tough to see another ordinary family go through all this, and see the same absence of urgency on the government’s part.”
International relations expert Professor Anthony Glees from the University of Buckingham echoes these sentiments. “The sanctions demand will make life far, far harder for the Foremans,” he says.
“In my opinion, however much we want Iran to stop building nukes, we should have tried to get them out of that vile nation before hitting Iran, however richly it deserves to be hit.”
Prof Glees adds: “The idea that the Foremans are working for MI6 is just too stupid to waste any time denying, and the ayatollahs know this full well.”
The FCDO said: “We are deeply concerned by reports that two British nationals have been charged with espionage in Iran. We continue to raise this case directly with the Iranian authorities.
“We are providing them with consular assistance and remain in close contact with their family members.”