Fears for couple detained in Iranian jail during round-the-world motorbike trip - as British embassy shuts its doors
The son of a British couple jailed in Iran on suspicion of spying has told of his fears for them as the UK’s embassy was shuttered and deadly anti-regime protests continue across the country.
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Craig and Lindsay Foreman were on a motorbike trip around the world when they were arrested by Iran last year and accused of spying.
The couple, of East Sussex, deny the allegations and are in Tehran's notorious Evin prison.
Their son Joe Bennett has said that he has nowhere to turn now that the embassy has shuttered its doors and accused British officials of leaving his parents in a “dangerous position.”
A government spokesperson said: "We have temporarily closed the British Embassy in Tehran, this will now operate remotely. Foreign Office travel advice has now been updated to reflect this consular change.”
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Joe has described the ‘frightening’ conditions inside the prison: “There are vermin in the kitchen and in beds. It is overcrowded, it's even more overcrowding now that these protests have gone on in Tehran," he said.
He described fights breaking out “daily” and said the conditions inside were “unsafe.”
"I look at other nations, France for example, US, Italy, when their citizens are put in a similar situation, there's an advocacy from them at the highest level of government... and the UK haven't done that," he said.
More than 2,400 people have been killed in the recent crackdown by the Iranian authorities, according to human rights groups.
Earlier this month Ms Foreman’s son handed in a petition to Downing Street calling on the Government to do more to free them.
It is a year since Lindsay and Craig Foreman were taken into custody in January during a world motorcycle tour and were later charged with espionage.
Mr Bennett was joined by former detainee Anoosheh Ashoori and Richard Ratcliffe, who fought a public campaign that involved two hunger strikes to have his wife Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe freed from Iran, at the steps of Number 10 Downing Street to deliver the 70,000-signature petition.
Mr Bennett, of Folkestone, Kent, said: "It is the year anniversary of them being taken which is not something we want to celebrate but we are here to make sure there is as much publicity and pressure we can get."
Mr Bennett, who is campaigning for the couple's release, said: "Ultimately, I need to know they (the Government) are working as hard as they can to get them home - that is what I need and what we all want."
The petition has 70,000 signatures "which is a clear sign there is a strong belief that this is nothing but an arbitrary detention", he said.
The petition was handed in after a choir of concerned supporters sang a rendition of Stand By Me.
Every day they are in prison "chisels away at their mental and physical health," according to Mr Bennett.
He said: "They (the Government) need to come out and defend their citizens - that is what we want.
"We want public acknowledgement that it is completely barbaric they are being held on these charges of espionage, that they are not spies for the British state and they are going to do everything they can to get them home.
"When you call it for what it is, hopefully it gives you more leverage to be able to get the right thing done."