Charged with espionage: Family of couple detained in Iran speak out

KentOnline / KMTV

Joe Bennett, from Folkestone, still has hope his mum will return despite the government saying support in Iran is "extremely limited".  Abby Hook reports

Transcript

00:00Here we are in the depths of the Armenian countryside.

00:06What was a bucket list trip of dreams that quickly turned into a nightmare

00:12when they were detained by Iranian authorities and charged with espionage.

00:19Described as adventurers by their family,

00:22Lindsay and Craig Foreman were travelling across the world on motorbikes,

00:26documenting their travels on social media.

00:28This was their last post on the 28th of December last year.

00:34Lots and lots of cats.

00:36So there is our little cabin, all our cats in the river.

00:40Since then, since January,

00:43they've been working with the Foreign Office to get them home.

00:46It was panic.

00:48It was daunting.

00:50It was not knowing what was going to happen.

00:53You take your emotions as a family,

00:56you've got to amplify it by a hundredfold, right?

00:58They're in a country, they must have some notion as to what's going on.

01:03I don't know how much notion they know or what they know,

01:05but they must have an understanding that their countries were at war.

01:09It's unimaginable.

01:11You know, I honestly can't think what that must be like.

01:15It's hard to put yourself in those shoes because you can try and have an understanding,

01:19but unless you're actually living, being there through it.

01:23Yeah, it's a tough one to think about.

01:25Try not to think about it too much because, you know, I don't think that helps.

01:31But obviously it adds that urgency because they can't be having a pleasant time.

01:35A spokesman for Iran's judiciary said in February the couple had entered the country

01:41under the guise of tourists and gathered information in several parts of the country.

01:47The UK Foreign Office does advise against all travel to Iran,

01:52saying British nationals are at significant risk of arrest, questioning or detention.

01:57It adds that even just having a British passport

02:01can be reason enough for the Iranian authorities to detain you.

02:06They did everything possible.

02:08They had the visa.

02:09They were allowed into the country.

02:10They had a guide.

02:11They stayed on main roads.

02:12They followed every single bit of advice they could.

02:15And whilst they were there, they did nothing but commend the country.

02:18They couldn't believe how beautiful it was, how nice the people were.

02:21But as of today, the UK has been warned of a rising and unpredictable threat from Iran.

02:26Parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee says the government must do more

02:31to counter the national security threat here.

02:35For families like Lindsay and Craig's, all they can do is hope for a safe return.

02:41And soon.

02:43Abbey Hook for KMTV.

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