A British mother detained in Iran’s most notorious prison on spurious espionage charges is “losing hope”, her son has said.
Lindsay Foreman is being held in Tehran’s Evin Prison, alongside her husband Craig, by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Her son Joe Bennett, who has directly spoken to his mother only twice in nearly 300 days, said she was feeling despondent about their chances of release and that they were expecting a verdict imminently.
Relaying a recent phone call he had with his mother, organised by their lawyer, Mr Bennett said: “Her spirits were low. She told me that a further recent court appearance last week had not gone well.
“We had been told to expect a verdict rather than another appearance. I don’t know exactly what that means, but I could feel she’s losing hope.”
The couple from East Sussex were arrested in January while travelling through Iran as part of an around-the-world motorcycle tour. They were charged with unspecified offences of espionage.
The family have denied the accusations, calling the charges “absolutely crazy”.
The pair, pictured on their travels, were arrested in Iran in January – Instagram
Mr Bennett met Yvette Cooper, the Foreign Secretary, to discuss his mother and step-father’s detention two weeks ago but described the talks as unproductive and frustrating.
He said: “Right now, it feels like each side is waiting for the others to move first. The British are waiting for a sentence before acting. The Iranians are deciding what sentence to hand down.”
‘Horror becoming normalised’
Mr Bennett admitted that he was becoming worryingly desensitised to the conditions of his mother’s internment.
“My mother found a rat in her bed the other day. Nine months ago, that would have horrified me.
“Now compared to everything else she endures, it barely registers, and that’s what scares me most. The horror is becoming normalised.”
Ms Foreman was moved from Qarchak Prison, a former cattle-farm repurposed into a detention facility for women, to Evin on Oct 9 after being placed on an intravenous drip.
Evin Prison is one of the Islamic republic’s most symbolically important detention facilities, where prominent activists, including Nazanin Zagari Ratcliffe, foreigners, journalists and dissidents have been held for decades.
The family initially welcomed the transfer but say she has now been left isolated among “non-English speaking inmates”.
Mr Foreman is suffering from a dental abscess and “worsening health”, Mr Bennett added.
“We’ll blink and it will be Christmas, and in the New Year that will be a whole year they have spent imprisoned and isolated in these awful conditions.
“We need to shout even louder to make sure that no one forgets that my parents remain in the most horrific circumstances imaginable.”
The All Party Parliamentary Group on Arbitrary Detention and Hostage Affairs have scheduled a hearing on Wednesday to discuss the couple’s detention.
