Detained Briton describes life in Iran jail to BBC hours before sentencing

A British woman who was detained by Iran has told the BBC it was hard to remain positive in prison, hours before she and her husband were sentenced to 10 years for espionage.

Lindsay and Craig Foreman were arrested while passing through Iran on a round-the-world motorcycle trip in January 2025.

In a rare telephone interview from Tehran's notorious Evin prison, Lindsay likened their detainment to "an endurance test for the mind" and said being in jail had taken a physical toll on her.

While the couple - who deny the accusation against them - has not spoken since the sentencing, her son described the decision as "gut-wrenching".

Meanwhile, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper called it "completely appalling and totally unjustifiable".

Lindsay, who spoke over a crackly phone line, said she had been trying to exercise within the confines of the cramped Iranian prison, including running "in circles" in the small prison yard.

"I've resigned myself to the fact that my physical health might not be what it was when I came in but I can regain it when I leave," she said during the interview, which was played on BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

Lindsay noted it was "incredibly hard to remain positive" but was taking things "one day at a time".

She added: "I'm surrounded by people who are in worse situations who have to live this their entire life, so in some way I feel lucky that I've had the life I have until this point - and hopefully one day for me it will end."

The Foremans had been heading for Australia on their trip of a lifetime, crossing into Iran from Armenia on 30 December 2024 and had planned to arrive in Pakistan by 4 January that year.

But on 3 January, the couple were detained despite having Iranian visas, a guide and an approved itinerary.

Lindsay's son, Joe Bennett, said that no evidence of spying has ever been presented by the Iranian authorities and called on the UK government to "act decisively and use every available avenue" to bring them home.

Bennett has said the couple's lawyers in Iran made it clear there was no legal basis for a case against them, but that their bail applications had been ignored. At a court hearing in October, they were not allowed to defend themselves.

The family say a judge delivered their sentence at the Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court.

Lindsay said hours before this was handed down that she and her husband had sent a letter to the Iranian authorities to complain about their treatment in what she described as a "desperate attempt" to seek justice.

"We have done what we can to be respectful of their system, to be patient with the legal process and believing that our innocence will prevail but it doesn't seem to be the case," she said.

Lindsay added that they wanted to "exercise their right to be heard" and use Iran's legal system to show what it was doing to them was "unfair and unjust".

She said she told them: "Even in your own system, your own judicial system, you're in violation of the laws."

The Foremans are being held in separate wings of Evin prison, which has long drawn criticism for alleged torture and inhumane conditions. It reportedly holds thousands of inmates, including journalists and political prisoners.

The Sussex couple, who are both in their 50s, had endured 13 months in "dire" conditions, Bennett has previously said - adding that they were surrounded by "dirt, vermin and violence".

Human rights groups say foreign nationals who are detained in Iran are often held for leverage and released only when the regime gets something in return. The BBC was previously told that the couple may be being used as diplomatic bargaining chips.

Bennett said he had repeatedly urged the UK Foreign Office to help the Foremans.

He has said that his family felt "abandoned" by the government, and that letters he sent to the prime minister and foreign secretary had gone unanswered.

Responding to the sentence, Cooper said: "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.

"In the meantime, their welfare is our priority and we will continue to provide consular assistance to them and their families."

The Foreign Office has long advised against all travel to Iran, warning British and British-Iranian dual citizens that having a British passport or any connection to the UK can lead to detention.

Lindsay told the BBC on Wednesday that she and Craig had checked the government website before entering Iran, and had sought advice on how to travel through a hard-to-navigate region.

"I put my hand up and take responsibility for being here," she said.

Iran has arrested dozens of Iranians with dual nationality or foreign permanent residency in recent years, mostly on spying and national security charges. At least 15 have had links to the UK.

British-Iranian citizens Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori were released in 2022 and allowed to leave Iran after the UK settled a long-standing £650m debt owed to Tehran.

French citizens Cécile Kohler, Jacques Paris and Olivier Grondeau, and German national Nahid Taghavi, were all released from Iranian jails following sustained pressure by their respective governments.

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