The family of British national Craig Foreman says an Iranian judge has added two years to his prison term after accusing him of speaking to the media. Craig is serving a ten-year sentence on espionage charges alongside his wife, Lindsay Foreman.
The additional sentence follows the couple’s arrest in 2025 while riding a motorcycle through Iran during a round-the-world trip. The UK government described the original conviction as “entirely unjustifiable.”
Joe Bennett, Lindsay Foreman’s son and the family’s spokesperson, said they were informed that Craig was brought before a judge and told his sentence would be extended for speaking with the press.
Bennett said Craig had been told he would see his lawyer but was instead taken to appear before a judge, where, according to the family, he was notified of the extra term.
According to the family’s account, Craig Foreman was given the additional sentence for contacting the media, increasing his total sentence from ten to twelve years.
Family alleges lack of legal counsel and translation
The family spokesman also said Foreman was denied access to a lawyer or a translator and was not given any opportunity to defend himself.
Craig and Lindsay Foreman are serving ten-year sentences on espionage charges which they both deny. They were detained while crossing Iran by motorcycle during their trip around the world.
Last month the British couple lost their appeal against the conviction.
Neither was able to attend the hearing or receive an explanation for the appeal being rejected. They were asked to sign documents in Persian that they could not read. “They were not allowed to attend their own appeal hearing,” said Joe Bennett, Lindsay’s son.
Lawyer Haydee Dijkstal, part of the UK legal team, described them as “innocent tourists arbitrarily detained whose fundamental rights have been gravely and systematically violated during their detention.” The case has been referred to Iran’s Supreme Court, but the family says they do not know the timeline, the process, or whether effective legal representation will be available. Iran’s judiciary did not respond to requests for comment.
The couple’s communications with the outside were cut off more than a month ago after they gave an interview to the BBC. Since then, both have begun a hunger strike in protest. The last consular contact occurred in December.
Craig, a carpenter by trade, has gone 25 days without solid food and is consuming only sugar, milk and water, leaving him increasingly weak. Lindsay, a life coach, resumed the hunger strike after a short break and has now gone 16 days without eating.
The family said they receive information about the couple’s condition only through cellmates. “It is another reason why two British citizens, with no other options, are on hunger strike in protest,” Bennett said, noting he has less information about his mother’s condition than about his stepfather’s.
The British Foreign Office called the imprisonment “unjustified and appalling” and expressed disappointment at the appeal outcome. It said the ambassador in Tehran visited the couple in prison and helped arrange calls with their family over the past year.
Earlier this year the family alleged the couple were being used as “human shields” amid regional tensions. The UK government has long warned that holding a British passport or having links to the UK “can be sufficient reason for Iranian authorities to detain you.”
Iran has a history of detaining Western nationals on security charges. Various governments and human rights organizations accuse Tehran of using such detainees as bargaining chips in diplomatic negotiations, a claim the Iranian government denies.