The son of a British couple detained in Iran said he fears for their welfare after the UK closed its embassy in Tehran amid the deadly crackdown on anti-regime protests.
Lindsay and Craig Foreman were taken into custody in January last year during a motorcycle tour around the world and were later charged with espionage. The couple, of East Sussex, deny the allegations and are in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison.
Mrs Foreman’s son, Joe Bennett, fears his mother and her husband are in a ‘dangerous position’ after the UK announced the temporary closure of its embassy in Tehran on Wednesday.
He added that the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO) informed him they are still ‘assessing the situation’.
Mr Bennett says he worries about ‘overcrowding’ in the jail due to anti-regime protests, after previously revealing the couple’s ‘deteriorating’ health and how his mother has been crying on the phone, ‘begging’ to come home.
It comes as around 12,000 protestors had been killed by the Iranian regime as of Wednesday, according to claims made by Iranian opposition website Iran International.
Tehran’s attorney general, Mohammad Movahedi Azad, had warned that anyone taking part in the protests would be considered an ‘enemy of God’, punishable by a death-penalty charge.
Britain’s ambassador and all consular staff were evacuated on Wednesday following a security assessment and fears for staff safety. Mr Bennett said if his parents were released, they had planned to go to the British embassy.
Lindsay and Craig Foreman (pictured) were taken into custody in January last tear during a world motorcycle tour and were charged with espionage
Mrs Foreman’s son Joe Bennett (pictured) has been tirelessly campaigning for the couple’s release
‘The trouble is, their plan was to go to the embassy, to try to get to the embassy because they feel that that’s safe ground and now… Where do they go? What do they do?’ he told the BBC.
He added that during a brief communication with the couple on Wednesday, they told him of the prison’s ‘frightening’ conditions.
‘There are vermin in the kitchen and in beds. It is overcrowded, it’s even more overcrowded now that these protests have gone on in Tehran,’ he said.
The son also told of his family’s ‘frustration’ with the apparent lack of support from the UK government.
‘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 claimed.
Earlier this month, Mr Bennett handed in a petition to Downing Street calling on the Government to do more to free them.
The petition was given after a choir of concerned supporters sang a rendition of Stand By Me.
Mr Bennett previously said that every day the couple are in prison it ‘chisels away at their mental and physical health’.
‘Their health is deteriorating. It is tough for them. They shield us about what the actual reality is like for them because they do not want us to be afraid,’ he said.
‘My mum is the most important person in the world to me and when you hear her down, dejected, crying and begging to come home – it is hard to take.’
Mr Bennett handed in a petition to Downing Street calling on the Government to do more to free his mother and her husband. Pictured left to right: Anoosheh Ashoori, his daughter Elika Ashoori, Mr Bennett, Sue Clarke and Richard Ratcliffe outside number 10 Downing Street on January 3, 2026
Protesters set fire to makeshift barricades near a religious centre in Gorgan, Iran, on January 10, 2026
He has been tirelessly calling on the UK government to take more action to ensure the safety of the couple.
‘They (the Government) need to come out and defend their citizens – that is what we want,’ he said.
‘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.’
Mr Bennett said he is able to speak to his family in prison but the couple are ‘being as brave as possible’.
The Daily Mail has contacted the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO) for comment.
On the closure of the British Embassy in Tehran, 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.’
Supporters of Mr and Mrs Foreman hold placards outside Downing Street during a demonstration this month
Richard Ratcliffe (left), Joe Bennett (second left), Elika Ashoori (second right), and her father Anoosheh Ashoori (right) arrive to hand in a petition to number 10 Downing Street earlier this month
Tehran today confirmed that Iranian protestor Erfan Soltani will not face the death sentence, after US President Donald Trump threatened to take military action if the regime executed anti-government demonstrators.
The judiciary said Soltani, 26, is being charged with ‘colluding against the country’s internal security and propaganda activities against the regime’ but that the death penalty does not apply to such charges if they are confirmed by a court.
It comes as Trump said he had been told by ‘very important sources on the other side’ the killings of protesters in Iran had been halted, and that executions would not go ahead.
He had earlier warned clerics America would take ‘very strong action’ when asked what he would do if the Iranian regime started executing captured protesters, adding: ‘If they hang them you’re going to see something’.
Soltani, a clothes shop owner, was arrested for taking part in the January 10 protests last week and was being held in the Ghezel Hesar prison in Karaj.
His family was told he would face the death penalty and that his imminent execution was scheduled for January 14.
