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When Craig and Lindsay Foreman crossed from Armenia into Iran on 30 December 2024, they were fuelled by wanderlust and curiosity. The British couple— in their early 50s and riding motorcycles on a roundthe-world trip from their home in East Sussex toward Australia— had posted on social media about“ seeing people living meaningful lives everywhere” and were excited by the landscapes and communities they hoped to encounter. Yet just days after entering Iran, their journey took a devastating turn. On 3 January 2025, Iranian security forces detained them in the southeastern city of Kerman. Within weeks, Iran’ s judiciary had charged them with espionage, alleging they had“ cooperated with covert institutions linked to the intelligence services of hostile and Western countries,” charges Craig and Lindsay strongly deny.
The couple’ s family issued a statement early in the process saying the arrest was an“ unexpected turn of events” and expressing fear for their wellbeing.
“ We are deeply focused on ensuring their safety and wellbeing during this trying time,” the family said, adding they were“ united in our determination to secure their safe return.”
Lindsay herself had acknowledged publicly before entering Iran that she and Craig were“ aware of the risks,” writing that the rewards of meeting people and seeing breathtaking landscapes could outweigh the fear.
Their detention has unfolded against a backdrop of heightened diplomatic caution. The UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office( FCDO) strongly advises against travel to Iran for British nationals, warning of the significant risk of arrest, questioning or detention and limited access to legal rights or consular assistance once someone is held.
The Iranian judiciary has not shared publicly detailed evidence against the Foremans, leaving their legal situation unclear and prolonged. Court appearances have taken place sporadically, and family members have expressed alarm that the couple appeared before a judge with“ a state-appointed lawyer they only just met,” calling into question the fairness of the proceedings and the transparency of the justice process.
The uncertainty and distress extend to their living conditions. According to advocacy reports, the couple have gone on a hunger strike in protest at the lack of progress in their case; Lindsay told her son that refusing to eat“ is the only power she has,” and added she“ feels confused” and let down by both Iranian authorities and her own government’ s response.
Their plight is part of a wider pattern of foreign detainees in Iran that has drawn international attention and criticism. One of the most high-profile cases involved Australian-British academic Dr Kylie Moore- Gilbert, who was seized at Tehran airport in 2018 on espionage charges— accusations she always rejected. She was sentenced to a 10-year prison term before being released in 2020 as part of a prisoner swap that saw three Iranians returned from Thailand.
Reflecting on her ordeal years later, Moore-Gilbert said Iran’ s practice of detaining foreigners“ is a longestablished practice … and using them for diplomatic or financial leverage.”
Moore-Gilbert has also spoken directly about the emotional and psychological cost of detention. In interviews after her release, she described periods of solitary confinement and psychological strain that left detainees desperate and deprived.
“ It’ s extreme … it is so damaging,” she said of the isolation in Iranian custody, noting the profound longterm effects on mental health.
Other Australians— including overlanders Jolie King and Mark Firkin, detained in 2019 for flying a drone near a military site— spent months in prison before being freed, highlighting that even seemingly innocuous actions can attract intense scrutiny in Iran.
Experts and former detainees alike warn that Iran’ s approach serves multiple purposes. Some analysts and advocacy groups describe the country’ s practice as“ hostage diplomacy,” in which the state detains foreigners on broad national security charges as leverage in diplomatic negotiations. Ana Diamond, a British-Iranian campaigner and former detainee, has criticised Western governments for failing to develop a viable policy response to Iran’ s use of foreign detainees, saying that the repeated arrests show Tehran“ has no incentive” to change course unless confronted with firm consequences.
Former prisoners also offer blunt warnings about the realities of detention. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who was held in Iran for several years on widely contested charges until her release in 2022, once noted that detainees feel“ completely cut off from the world” and that prolonged
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