Craig and Lindsay Foreman, a British couple sentenced to 10 years in prison on espionage charges in Iran, said they would begin a hunger strike on March 4, accusing authorities of violating the country’s constitution.
In a message from Tehran's Evin prison, the couple said they would reach fourteen months in detention on March 4, 2026, and vowed to continue their hunger strike until they are freed.
The Foremans, both in their 50s, were arrested in January 2025 while on a motorcycle trip through Iran. Their family says they had valid visas, a licensed guide and an approved itinerary. They deny the espionage charges.
In their letter, the couple said their detention violates Iran’s own constitution, citing Article 39, which guarantees dignity, and Article 37, which presumes innocence.
They described being summoned on January 24, 2025, for questioning.
“We were then aggressively bundled into the back of an unmarked car… We were blindfolded and aggressively maneuvered to a 2.5-meter square dirty, furniture-less cell, after stripping naked and given prison clothes to wear,” they wrote.
They said they received “no explanation, no information” and were held in solitary confinement for 56 days, spending up to nearly 24 hours a day alone.
Within 24 hours, they said, interrogators told them: “We know you are a spy, no one is coming to save you, and we will show you how bad we can be unless you cooperate fully.”
The couple said repeated requests to choose their own lawyer were denied. Their first court-appointed lawyer met them more than three months after their arrest and submitted a defense letter “declaring our innocence."
‘No proof’
Lindsay Foreman said she was repeatedly questioned about her personal beliefs.
“I was told I was a Jew, I was told I was a feminist, I was told I supported Israel, and I was told I thought that Iran was dark,” she wrote.
On July 29, 2025, they said they were informed they had been convicted of espionage “with no accompanying proof and no trial.”
The only evidence presented against her, Lindsay Foreman said, was “a photo of a conference pass for the European Positive Psychology Conference, showing the name of a man who may have been from Israel.”
“For Craig, there is no evidence whatsoever,” they wrote. “We’ve had no justice in the seven months since our first court session.”
Britain’s foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, called their sentence “completely appalling and totally unjustifiable,” pledging to pursue the case “relentlessly” until they are returned to the UK.
