The son of a British couple detained in Iran has said the UK government is not doing enough to secure their release.
Lindsay and Craig Foreman, from East Sussex, were taken into custody in Kerman in January during a motorcycle tour around the world and later charged with espionage, which they deny.
In August, the pair were moved to different jails in Tehran, before being reunited in October at Evin prison, where British-Iranian national Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was held between 2016 and 2022.
‘You need to stand up for your citizens’
Lindsay’s son, Joe Bennett, told Sky News there are too many similarities with Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s situation.
“They themselves are being very passive,” he said of the UK government.
“They’ve got two UK citizens that are accused of spying for the British state, but they’re not coming out and defending them and calling [it out] for what it is.
“You need to stand up for your citizens and call it out.”
Speaking to The World With Dominic Waghorn, Mr Bennett dismissed Iran’s accusation of espionage against his mother and her partner – and accused the regime of “hostage taking”.
‘They’re not spies’
Asked whether he had any sympathy with the argument that making too much of the situation makes their release less likely, Mr Bennett said there was “no justification” for the Foreign Office taking such an approach.
“If they’re on charges of shoplifting, potentially that’s understandable, let’s see the court of law, let’s go through it if they’ve been caught of some wrongdoing,” he said.
“They haven’t, and they’ve been accused of espionage, which is state-level political charges, right?
“They’re not spies, it’s quite simple.”
Read more from Sky News:
Court hearing ‘did not go well’ for British couple
Iran protests ‘bring back memories’ of helplessness
Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s husband Richard is supporting Mr Bennett’s case.
He told Sky News: “It does feel to me that I’m hearing too many echoes of our experience in the experience of Joe’s family and others.”
The Foreign Office warns all British and British-Iranian nationals against all travel to Iran because of “significant risk of arrest, questioning, or detention”.
In October, a spokesperson told Sky News the department was deeply concerned by reports that the Foremans had been charged with espionage and that it was providing them with consular support.
