Iran extends British prisoner's sentence by two years, family says
ABritish man jailed in Iran on espionage charges was given an additional two-year prison term after authorities accused him of speaking to the media from prison, his family said.
Craig Foreman and his wife, Lindsay, were arrested in January last year while traveling through Iran by motorcycle on a journey from Europe to Australia. Both deny the espionage charges. They were each sentenced to 10 years in prison in February.
Joe Bennett, Lindsay Foreman's son and the family's spokesperson, said Craig Foreman was told he was being taken to see his lawyer but was instead brought before a judge and informed of the additional sentence.
“He was allowed no lawyer, no translator and no opportunity to defend himself,” Bennett said, adding that the family was “absolutely flabbergasted” by the decision.
A new mural depicting US President Donald Trump lying in a coffin was unveiled at Tehran's Enghelab Square, according to images published by Iranian media on Wednesday.
The mural appears to portray Trump inside a coffin draped with the US flag beneath a text reading, “We kill Trump.”
The installation follows a series of hardline calls for revenge after the killing of former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and comes amid escalating military confrontation between Iran and the United States.
A man looking at the B1 Bridge linking Karaj to Tehran that was bombed by the US in April
US President Donald Trump said he would expand military strikes on Iran to power plants and bridges unless Tehran returned to negotiations, warning in a Fox News interview broadcast on Tuesday that attacks would intensify next week.
"We're going to hit them very hard tonight," Trump said. "We're going to hit them hard tomorrow night. We're gonna hit them really hard the night after."
"Next week it gets really bad for them because next week comes the power plants," he said. "Next week comes the bridges. We're gonna knock out all their power plants. We're going to knock out all their bridges unless they get to the table and negotiate."
Trump said US representatives had recently spoken with Iranian negotiators but said Tehran had repeatedly broken agreements.
"They want to make a deal. But every time they make a deal, they break it," he said.
"You better make a deal. You're not going to have anybody left," Trump added, saying the United States was taking care to limit harm to civilians.
He also said Iran's military capabilities had been significantly weakened but retained some ability to fight back.
"They have some fight left, but they don't have much," he said.
Trump added that the United States could quickly strike a nuclear site outside Tehran where new activity had been reported.
"We can hit that one very easily," he said. "It only takes a matter of minutes for us to do it and do major damage."
Ground campaign and Kharg Island
Trump declined to say whether the United States could launch a ground campaign in Iran but suggested he would not rule out the option entirely.
"I don't want to say that either, but I would say no," he said when asked by Fox News whether he was ruling out a limited ground campaign. "Sometimes you need a ground campaign, but we have other people that will do the ground campaign for us."
Trump said US forces had already struck Iran's Kharg Island three times but had deliberately avoided its oil facilities.
"I said, 'Hit everything but the oil,'" he said. "Leave that little area. Don't touch the oil because I don't want that in terms of the world economy."
Asked whether the United States could seize the island, Trump said: "If we degrade them far enough and deep enough back, I would do that."
Hormuz policy
Trump said he had abandoned plans to impose a 20% fee on cargo transiting the Strait of Hormuz, saying countries in the region had instead agreed to make major investments in the United States.
"I was going to charge a fee, but instead they'd rather spend a lot of money in the United States," he said.
He said the United States had reinstated a naval blockade on Iranian shipping and that its objectives, including keeping the Strait of Hormuz open, had largely been achieved, although commercial traffic through the waterway has fallen sharply.
"I think they're completed now, honestly," Trump said of the military campaign. "If we left right now, it would take them 20 years to rebuild what they have."
Iranian retaliation vows
Trump's remarks came as Iranian officials and lawmakers stepped up calls for retaliation following US strikes and the killing of former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
About 180 lawmakers said on Tuesday that Iran should treat its memorandum of understanding with the United States as terminated after Trump declared the agreement over.
They pledged to pursue retaliation for Khamenei's killing and called for a special parliamentary committee to review negotiations with Washington.
The lawmakers also backed legislation on the management of the Strait of Hormuz and voiced support for Iran's armed forces.
Iran's army said on Wednesday it would deliver a "decisive response" after a US strike on a barracks in Bampur near Iranshahr killed seven military personnel.
"The retaliation for the blood of the martyrs of this crime is certain and imminent," the army said.
Calls for military action
Manouchehr Mottaki, a former Iranian foreign minister who is now a member of parliament, called for a ground assault on a US military base in the region.
"My proposal is that we launch a ground attack on one of the US bases in the region, capture 100 Americans and bring them to Iran," Mottaki said.
Another lawmaker, Shahrokh Ramin, criticized a parliamentary proposal titled "Revenge against Trump," saying genuine retaliation would not come through legislation.
"Someone who wants to take revenge does not turn it into a law," Ramin said. "If we are truly seeking revenge, we take revenge, and the way to do it is not through legislation."
An Israeli soldier performing mandatory military service was sentenced to five years in prison for carrying out espionage tasks on behalf of Iran, the Times of Israel reported on Wednesday, citing the Israeli military.
The soldier was convicted by a military court of contact with a foreign agent and delivering information liable to benefit the enemy following a joint investigation by the Military Police, the Israel Police and the Shin Bet security agency.
According to the military, the soldier was first contacted on Telegram in 2025 by several individuals offering paid work. One of them was later identified as an Iranian handler, who offered him money in exchange for carrying out photography assignments.
Investigators said he sent the handler two videos showing missile interceptions filmed from civilian locations during the June 2025 war with Iran and was paid for one of them. He also forwarded several publicly available online videos, including footage of a missile impact.
The Israeli military said the soldier eventually severed contact with the Iranian handler after becoming alarmed by the exchanges. He informed a member of his unit about the communications and was arrested by Shin Bet the following day.
Craig and Lindsay Foreman pose for a selfie in an unknown location in this undated handout photograph taken in 2024 and obtained by Reuters on February 19, 2026.
A British man jailed in Iran on espionage charges was given an additional two-year prison term after authorities accused him of speaking to the media from prison, his family said.
Craig Foreman and his wife, Lindsay, were arrested in January last year while traveling through Iran by motorcycle on a journey from Europe to Australia. Both deny the espionage charges. They were each sentenced to 10 years in prison in February.
Joe Bennett, Lindsay Foreman's son and the family's spokesperson, said Craig Foreman was told he was being taken to see his lawyer but was instead brought before a judge and informed of the additional sentence.
“He was allowed no lawyer, no translator and no opportunity to defend himself,” Bennett said, adding that the family was “absolutely flabbergasted” by the decision.
The couple have been on hunger strike since May after prison authorities prevented them from calling their families. HRANA, a US-based human rights group, said last week that Craig Foreman had lost about 16 kilograms while Lindsay Foreman was suffering from dizziness and body tremors.
“My mum and Craig are 18 months into an ordeal they should never have known,” Bennett said. “They are weak, they are hungry, and now Craig is being punished simply for being heard. To add two more years to an innocent man's sentence, in secret and with no chance to defend himself, is a flagrant abuse of the most basic rights any person is owed.”
Last month, UN special rapporteurs Alice Edwards and Mai Sato called for the couple's release, saying they appeared to have been wrongfully detained and sentenced after proceedings that “failed to meet basic fair trial guarantees.”
Britain has advised against all travel to Iran since 2022, warning that British nationals may be detained because of their nationality or links to the UK. The Foreign Office has said it is working to secure the couple's release and that their welfare remains a priority. The family also welcomed the appointment this week of former Middle East minister Alistair Burt as Britain's first envoy for nationals detained abroad in complex cases.
An Iranian lawmaker said on Wednesday that Tehran should seize a US military base in the region and take American soldiers prisoner in response to attacks on Iran.
Manouchehr Mottaki, a member of parliament representing Tehran, said any military bases used to launch attacks on Iran were "legitimate targets."
"We should launch a ground attack on US military bases in the region, seize one of them, take thousands of American soldiers prisoner and bring them to Iran," Mottaki said in a televised interview.
"We must begin the ground offensive, something the Americans threatened for a long time but never dared to carry out," he added.
