British couple held in Iran lose appeal against 10-year prison sentence

Tourists Craig and Lindsay Foreman have been held on espionage charges since January 2025; family say they weren’t allowed to attend their own appeal hearing

LONDON, United Kingdom — A British couple held in Iran have lost their appeal against a 10-year prison sentence, their family said on Tuesday, adding that the pair were not allowed to attend the hearing and had little information about the proceedings.

Craig and Lindsay Foreman were sentenced to 10 years in a Tehran prison last year after Iran charged them with espionage, which they deny.

The family said the appeal was conducted without their knowledge and the couple had been asked to sign documents in Farsi that they could not read.

“They were not permitted to attend their own appeal hearing,” Lindsay Foreman’s son, Joe Bennett, said in a statement, adding that the family did not know whether the couple had received a proper account of the case presented for them.

Iran’s Judiciary did not immediately respond to a call for comment from Reuters.

Britain’s foreign ministry said: “We are disappointed by the appeal decision and will continue working to ensure that Craig and Lindsay are returned safely to the UK.”

Bennett said the case had now been referred to Iran’s Supreme Court but that the process and timeline remained unclear, adding that the couple was effectively without legal representation.

He also said the pair were on hunger strike in protest.

Family and supporters of Lindsay and Craig Foreman, a British couple detained in Iran, march in London on January 3, 2026, to raise national awareness of the couple’s ongoing detention and the need for urgent intervention. (Brook Mitchell / AFP)

The pair were detained in Kerman, central Iran, in January 2025 while traveling through the country on an around-the-world motorcycle journey, their family has said.

Lindsey is being held in the women’s section of the notorious Evin Prison in Tehran, while Craig is being held in its political wing.

The prison has long been criticized by international human rights organizations for its dire conditions and treatment of prisoners.

Their family has raised concerns about conditions there, including cramped cells and a lack of food, as well as a lack of legal representation.

The British government has previously called the Foremans’ sentence “totally unjustifiable” and said it would continue to press for their release.

Two women walk amidst debris at the Evin prison’s visitor room after Israeli airstrikes the previous month, in Tehran, on July 1, 2025. (AFP)

The family has criticized the UK government’s response, saying earlier this year the pair were being used as “effective human shields” during the US-Israeli war with Iran.

At one point during the war, which began on February 28, the family said a blast near Evin prison had blown out the window panels in Craig’s ward, causing plaster to fall onto inmates, who dived under their beds for cover.

“My parents are living under a ‘drone of drones’, the constant, maddening buzz of 600 machines in the sky,” Bennett said at the time.

“They are sharing small rectangular cells with rats and cockroaches, sleeping on metal bunks without mattresses in a state of constant physical pain.”

AFP contributed to this report.