A British couple who had been on a motorbike tour around the globe have been detained in Iran, Britain’s overseas workplace mentioned on Saturday.
The couple, Craig and Lindsay Foreman, have been final heard from on social media in early January. However this week, Iranian state media reported that two British nationals had been detained on suspicion of “safety crimes.”
Britain’s overseas workplace confirmed their detention after the Iranian stories, and on Saturday issued an announcement on behalf of the couple’s household.
“This surprising flip of occasions has prompted vital concern for our total household, and we’re deeply centered on making certain their security and well-being throughout this attempting time,” the household mentioned.
Mr. and Ms. Foreman, each in their mid-50s, have been on a motorbike tour to Australia, the place Ms. Foreman, was set to ship a paper at a convention on psychology. They reside in Spain, the place Ms. Foreman labored as a psychologist and life coach and Mr. Foreman as a carpenter.
The couple’s detention first got here to mild when Iranian state media printed {a photograph} of Britain’s ambassador to Iran, Hugo Shorter, assembly with two British residents accused of “safety crimes.”
Iranian state media blurred the couple’s faces in the picture, taken on the workplace of the prosecutor in Kerman, a metropolis greater than 600 miles east of the capital, Tehran.
In its assertion, the household mentioned it was “actively participating with the British authorities and related authorities, working diligently to navigate the complexities of this matter.”
It’s unclear how lengthy the couple has been held in Iran. Earlier than their detention, the Foremans shared their travels on social media. They final posted on Jan. 3, saying they have been in Iran.
“To place your minds at relaxation, we’re having probably the most superb time in Iran,” the couple mentioned in a Fb submit, including that they have been touring with a tour information. On Instagram, Ms. Foreman posted an image of herself assembly a theologian at a madrasa in Isfahan, the place she wrote that “journey continues to show me that humanity’s core is shared.”
The couple had crossed into Iran from Armenia, and have been planning to move to Pakistan subsequent, that they had mentioned.
“The UK authorities advises towards all however important journey to those areas, and the information paints a fairly grim image,” they posted on Fb on Dec. 30. “We wish to discover out for ourselves. That’s the reason we’re right here.”
The submit included two photos side-by-side: one of many International Workplace’s orange and yellow map of Iran, advising British residents to not journey to Iran, and one other of a photograph of the inexperienced lawns of a mosque, a picture whose location was pinned to Norduz, close to Iran’s border with Armenia.
The overseas workplace advises towards all journey to Iran, issuing a warning that “British and British-Iranian twin nationals are at vital threat of arrest, questioning or detention.”
Iran has repeatedly jailed foreigners and twin nationals during the last decade, together with an Iranian-American citizen and an Italian journalist detained final 12 months and a Swedish E.U. official arrested in 2023.
A number of British-Iranian dual-citizens have been amongst these arrested, amongst them Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who was held for six years; Aras Amiri, a 32-year-old artwork pupil; and Abbas Edalat, an instructional and antiwar activist. Ms. Amiri, arrested whereas visiting her grandmother and accused of espionage, was launched after three years in jail, and Mr. Edalat was launched after a number of months.
Human rights teams have mentioned many of those detentions are a part of a deliberate coverage to extract concessions from different nations, together with prisoner swaps.
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