British couple held in Tehran jail caught in US-Iran struggle crossfire as bombs shatter home windows

The British couple jailed in Tehran told how bombs exploding next to their prison shattered windows and caused plaster to rain down from the ceiling.

Lindsay and Craig Foreman, from East Sussex, were sentenced last month to 10 years in prison on disputed espionage charges after being arrested while travelling through Iran on a global motorcycle tour in January 2025.

Now living through the Israeli-US bombardment of Iran, they recounted how last Saturday afternoon a bomb exploded close to Evin Prison.

The sudden explosion shook the facility so hard that plaster fell from the ceiling onto inmates in Mr Foreman’s cell, campaigners said.

Ms Foreman, who was on the phone to her son at the time, described a scene of mass hysteria as women dived under bunk beds for cover, awaiting the next strike.

Her son recounted in The Times how his mother “screamed as the force of the bomb tore through the prison wings”. He said he could hear in the background the “screams of dozens of other women” before the line cut out.

Campaigners for the Foremans said that the legal process in Iran has “effectively collapsed” since the conflict broke out, leaving their future uncertain as the Foreign Office works for their appeal and release.

Family members last month described a “show trial” in which the couple were not allowed to present a defence, and saw no evidence of alleged espionage, after over a year held in gruelling conditions.

The courts that sentenced the couple have reportedly been targeted in the strikes, and the couple’s state-appointed lawyer has left the country, campaigners said in a statement shared with The Independent.

Mr Bennett wrote that the guards the couple knew are “slowly being replaced” by armed police personnel. “They have little real contact with them, but in these circumstances they feel more vulnerable than ever,” he said.

He added the advice offered by the Foreign Office was “standard travel advice for tourists”.

“That is hardly illuminating or reassuring when your parents are trapped in a prison in the middle of a war zone,” he said. “It is shocking that bureaucracy and back covering continues even in this crisis. The danger has clearly escalated and there are British citizens in real and immediate danger who appear to have been abandoned.”

Mr Bennett is to address the US Capitol next week at the Transatlantic Conference on Hostage-Taking and Arbitrary Detention as he fights for his parents’ release.

“Neither the prime minister nor the foreign secretary have responded to our petition delivered to Downing Street earlier this year. My letters to them have also gone unanswered,” he said.

“My parents are not spies. They are innocent tourists who have been taken hostage. Pretending otherwise does not make the problem go away.”

The family has set up a petition and a fundraiser to support the campaign.

An FCDO spokesperson told The Independent: “The welfare of British nationals detained in Iran is a priority for this government and continues to be during the current situation in the Middle East.

“The safety and security of our nationals, including those detained continues to be important, however it’s important to recognise the changing travel advice across the region.

“Craig and Lindsay’s sentences are completely appalling and totally unjustifiable, and we will continue to pursue this case relentlessly with the Iranian regime and will do so until we see Craig and Lindsay Foreman safely returned to the UK and reunited with their family.

“We continue to provide consular assistance to them and their family.”

Source: independent.co.uk