Son of British couple detained in Iran fears they have been abandoned by UK as regime packs jails with protesters
The son of a British couple detained in Iran said his parents were locked in cells with protesters and offered no clear plan for their release after the embassy was abruptly closed for fear of an imminent US attack.
Lindsay and Craig Foreman were arrested last January while traveling in Iran and subsequently charged with espionage, which they deny. They are currently being held in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison.
Ms Foreman’s son, Joe Bennett, said they were living in “hell again” where cells were “overcrowded” due to Iran’s crackdown on nationwide protests.
“Beyond your imagination,” he said Independent. “They wake up with mice in their bed. There are mice in the kitchen. Sounds like hell.”
“There’s more stuff piled into the rooms, so there’s not a lot of space,” he said, adding that his mother “isn’t getting out of bed right now because there’s either no room or she doesn’t feel ready.”
Mr Bennett, from Folkestone, Kent, said he had been able to call his mother since the demonstrations began and was worried the situation could escalate into “a more dangerous situation”.
“It’s just constant anxiety. You hang up the phone and your anxiety is through the roof because you don’t know what’s going to happen.”
“There are fights every day, and when I talk to him on the phone I hear some pretty explosive fights, which must be absolutely terrifying because you don’t want to get dragged into it and you don’t know what they’re fighting about. It’s alien.”
He worries that closing the embassy will leave them without a clear plan for what to do if they are released. He said the State Department told him they were “assessing the situation.”
“There is a very high probability that something will happen,” he emphasized. “Something could happen at any time.”
He said he told his parents, “Make sure the plan right now doesn’t involve going to the British Embassy, because they’re not there.”
The ambassador and consular staff were dismissed Wednesday following a security assessment after Donald Trump threatened Iran with military action.
Mr Bennett said he was told British officials would try to organize consular assistance remotely while the embassy was closed.
“This doesn’t make any sense,” he said. “You can’t provide consular assistance remotely because you can’t check on their health status. There’s also no internet. So I don’t really understand what that means.”
“That surprises me. If you’re not there, you have to give them something to do in that scenario.”
Iran imposed a nationwide internet blackout on January 8 as protests against the government intensified. Earlier this week it loosened some of the restrictions by allowing mobile phone calls to go outside the country but banned them within the country.
Mr. Bennett has been able to reach Mr. and Mrs. Foreman, who have been in prison since the hunger strike in November, and is trying to “share information with them so they can be better informed.” campaigns for their release.
“What makes me sad is that they have to go through this and I feel powerless. That’s the only thing I hate, feeling powerless,” he said.
She realized that although she could clear her head and go for a walk or see friends or family, “they couldn’t do any of that.”
“They live in hell over and over again. It must be torture.”
He said: “We’re a bit stuck and you’re trying to turn to people who you think can make a difference and it feels like there’s no solidarity.”
“It feels like we’re trying to persuade them to do the right thing. If your quiet diplomacy hasn’t worked, defend them publicly. We’ve never once heard our own prime minister whisper their names. And I think that’s scandalous.”
“We’re a year in, but there’s still a tendency not to rock a capsized boat. It makes no sense.”
An FCDO spokesperson said: Independent: “We are deeply concerned that Craig and Lindsay Foreman have been accused of espionage in Iran. We continue to discuss this case directly with Iranian officials.
“We continue to provide consular assistance to Craig and Lindsay and remain in close communication with their family members.”
