A woman who campaigns for people wrongly detained in Iran says the recent arrest of a British couple shows the West has failed to counter Tehran’s hostage diplomacy.
Craig and Lindsay Foreman were reportedly held in January but the country’s state-run media revealed last week they had been accused of security-related offences. It is understood they were travelling across the globe on a motorbike trip.
Now British-Iranian dual national Ana Diamond has told Sky News about her ordeal as a former prisoner in Iran, detained under espionage charges, and admits the couple “must be terrified”.
The co-founder of the campaign group, the Alliance Against State Hostage Taking, said: “My real disappointment in all of this is after 40 years, I would have hoped that the Western governments would have come up with a viable, policy to counter Iran’s hostage diplomacy.
“However, we kind of keep giving into it, or being forced into it. And it’s just sad to see that another lovely couple has become a victim of all of this.”
The couple were ultimately heading for Australia, having crossed into Iran from Armenia on 30 December, according to social media posts.
On Instagram, Ms Foreman acknowledged that travelling to Iran, against Foreign Office advice, was “slightly scary” but added “we’re aware of the risks”.
Their family said the situation was causing “significant concern”.
Ms Diamond describes herself, and other dual nationals like Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori, as having been “held on trumped up charges” in Iran for political leverage.
Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe was ultimately released when the UK agreed to settle a historic £400m debt to Iran dating to the 1970s.
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Asked about whether the UK should negotiate with the Iranian regime, who she described as hostage-takers, Ms Diamond said: “You have to negotiate. But at the end of the day, if you constantly give in to their demands, it’s just going to become a pattern. And it has become a pattern at this point.
“It has been going on for too long with too many innocent people spending years of their lives in prison.
“I was there for four years. As you know, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was there for over six years. I hope this couple will be different. I hope they’ll come out way sooner than that. but at this point, it’s just like a broken record.”
On Thursday, a Foreign Office spokesperson confirmed: “We are providing consular assistance to two British nationals detained in Iran and are in contact with the local authorities.”
Iranian state media said a man and woman were in custody in Iran’s southeastern city of Kerman.
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Ms Diamond recalled her own time in detention and said Craig and Lindsay Foreman “must be terrified”.
“I just hope that the UK government will help them and that they won’t feel alone in prison.
“Knowing that there is someone, or a team of people, helping you and rooting for you outside prison is sometimes all it takes to give you hope.”
