The family of a British couple detained for more than a year after being arrested in Iran while on holiday have said they’ve been cut off from the couple for over a week.
Lindsay and Craig Foreman, who are being held in Evin prison, had been allowed to make 10 minute phone calls to their family almost daily.
But that access has been cut off since early May, following a media interview that the couple had given.
Joe Bennett, son of Lindsay Foreman, said: "We simply do not know if my mum and Craig are safe. Craig told us that they might have to stop eating if their calls were taken away. I have not spoken to my mum for over a week now.
“Every day of silence makes it worse. We don’t know what is happening to them and we are terrified for them."
The UK government withdrew its diplomatic staff from Tehran in February and closed its embassy following the outbreak of the US-Iran war. Chaos in the prisons, and a rise in executions following the hostilities raised further concerns for the Foreman’s wellbeing.
The family fear the UK government is not working enough to secure the couple’s release.
British Ambassador to Iran Hugo Shorter allegedly “indicated there was effectively no clear channel currently available to engage on securing the couple’s release,” in a phone call to Ms Forman, the family said.
The conversation left her “feeling like Britain had determined to simply abandon them in prison,” according to her son.
The Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is understood to still be in contact with the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to secure the Foreman’s release, and to have the phone calls re-instated.
The frustration is compounded by the release of two French nationals detained in Iran earlier this year. “France found a way to bring its citizens home from Iran. We need to know why Britain cannot even find out what is happening to two of its own citizens,” Mr Bennett said.
He urged Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper to “personally intervene, to use every channel available and treat this as the emergency it is.”
Judge Abolghasem Salavati, who sentenced the Foremans is sanctioned by the UK, US and the EU for alleged involvement in unfair trials and human rights abuses.
An FCDO spokesperson said they would continue to work to ensure that the couple are “returned safely to the UK.
“Since Lindsay and Craig’s arrest last year, Britain’s 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 UK.
“The Foreign Secretary last met the family on 17 March. She set out to them personally how unjustified and appalling we consider Lindsay and Craig’s incarceration to be, and the action that the UK Government is taking to try and secure their release.
