LONDON (AP) 鈥� A on spying allegations have lost an appeal against their convictions, their family and the U.K. government said Tuesday.
Craig and Lindsay Foreman were detained in January 2025 while on an around-the-world motorcycle trip. In February they were handed 10-year prison sentences for espionage, which they both deny.
Britain鈥檚 Foreign Office called the couple鈥檚 incarceration 鈥渦njustified and appalling.鈥�
鈥淲e are disappointed by the appeal decision and will continue working to ensure that Craig and Lindsay are returned safely to the U.K.,鈥� it said in a statement.
鈥淪ince their arrest last year, Britain鈥檚 ambassador to Tehran, diplomats and officials in London have been working to provide consular assistance. This includes the ambassador visiting them in prison and facilitating calls with their family back in the U.K.鈥�
Lindsay Foreman鈥檚 son Joe Bennett said neither detainee was allowed to attend the appeal hearing, and they had been asked to sign documents they could not read. He said both had begun hunger strikes.
鈥淭heir case has now passed to the Supreme Court, but we don鈥檛 understand the process, the timeline, or what, if anything, will be submitted in their name,” Bennett said.
The U.K. government has for several years advised British and British-Iranian nationals against traveling to Iran, whose government has a history of detaining and releasing Western nationals on security charges. The country has long been accused of holding those with Western ties as prisoners to be used as bargaining chips in negotiations with the West. Iran denies those accusations.
In 2022, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe after more than five years. She had been sentenced to five years in prison after being convicted of plotting to overthrow Iran鈥檚 government, a charge that she, her supporters and rights groups denied.
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