British nationals Craig and Lindsay Foreman detained in Iran have been charged with espionage after collecting information in different locations in the country, Iranian judiciary Mizan news agency reported on Tuesday. [Getty]
Iranian authorities said Tuesday that a British couple recently arrested in the country’s southeast had been charged with espionage and accused of links to Western intelligence services.
The British Foreign Office named the two as Craig and Lindsay Foreman, and their family said on Saturday they were engaging with relevant authorities to ensure the pair’s well-being and safe return home.
Judiciary spokesman Asghar Jahangir said that “the two British nationals were arrested… over espionage charges,” adding that the couple who had been taken into custody in Kerman province, were found to be “cooperating with covert institutions linked to the intelligence services of hostile and Western countries”.
“The detained individuals entered the country as tourists and collected information in several provinces of the country,” Â Iranian judiciary’s Mizan news agency reported, without giving further details.
British media have said they are a married couple and both in their early fifties- who were arrested last month.
The couple, according to The Independent, were attempting to reach Australia for a psychology research project on what constitutes a “good life”, as the report added that they crossed into Iran from Armenia around December 30 and had planned to reach Pakistan by January 4.
UK outlets also reported that the couple moved from southeast England’s East Sussex to Andalucia, Spain, in 2019.
They had appeared on Channel 4’s A New Life in the Sun in 2022, showcasing their life as expats.
The couple were on a motorbike journey around the world and had intended to stay in Iran for just five days, the BBC reported.
Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards have arrested dozens of foreigners and dual nationals in recent years, mostly on espionage and security-related charges.
Human rights groups and some Western countries have accused Iran of trying to win concessions from other nations through arrests on security charges that may have been trumped up. Tehran denies such accusations.
