Iran imprisons two British tourists and accuses them of espionage

Iran has charged British couple Craig and Lindsay Foreman with espionage, accusing them of collaborating with Western intelligence services, the judiciary announced on Tuesday.

The British government said it was "deeply concerned" on Tuesday about the situation of its two citizens, who were arrested last January.

Asghar Jahangir, spokesman for the Iranian regime's judiciary, stated that the couple had entered Iran "posing as tourists" and gathering information before their arrest in the southeastern province of Kerman.

The website Mizan Online, a mouthpiece of the Iranian judiciary, quoted Kerman Supreme Court Chief Justice Ebrahim Hamidi as saying that the couple’s links to foreign intelligence services had been confirmed. "Further investigations are still ongoing," Hamidi added.

Jahangir stated that the couple had been detained by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on "espionage charges."

The Foremans were accused of collecting "information from various provinces" and of "cooperating with covert institutions linked to the intelligence services of hostile and Western countries," the spokesman said.

The BBC has reported that the couple, both in their 50s, were riding around the world on motorcycles when they were arrested in January.

According to social media posts, they crossed into Iran from Armenia in December and were slowly making their way to Australia.

British government's reaction

On Friday, the British Foreign Office said it was "providing consular assistance to two British nationals detained in Iran" and was in contact with Iranian authorities.

Last week, the official Iranian news agency IRNA claimed that British Ambassador Hugo Shorter had met the couple at the Kerman prosecutor's office.

The agency also posted a photo of the meeting, with the couple's faces blurred.

The British government advises against all travel to Iran. In recent years, Iran has detained several more Europeans and conducted multiple prisoner exchanges with Western governments.

In January 2023, Iran announced the execution of British-Iranian dual citizen Alireza Akbari, sparking outrage from Western governments, including Britain, which described it as "barbaric." Akbari had been convicted of espionage for Britain.

In January, Iran released Italian journalist Cecilia Sala, who had been arrested the previous month for "violating the law of the Islamic Republic."

Her release came just days before Italy freed Iranian national Mohammad Abedini, who had been arrested in Milan in December at the request of the United States.

The U.S. had accused her of violating sanctions and supplying sophisticated drone navigation technology to the Iranian military. Iran denied any connection between the Sala and Abedini cases.

French couple Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris have been imprisoned since May 2022 on charges of espionage.

In June, Iran released two Swedes, including a European Union diplomat, in exchange for a former official detained in Sweden, in a swap facilitated by Oman.

In 2023, Oman also brokered the release of six Europeans detained in Iran, including Belgian aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele, who had been convicted of espionage and spent over a year in custody.